The Freeing Blood
by KrazeeBunny
Summary: Sequel to Shadow Kiss: Now that Zak himself has come to terms with the fact that he loves Aerolynn...will the darkness that continually consumes his soul allow him to be saved? Or is it already too late for Aerolynn to save his damned soul?
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello readers! Thank you for deciding to continue on this journey with me, Aerolynn, and Zak I hope you enjoyed Shadow Kiss!**

**Remember to PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE hearing from my readers! It's awesome and it inspires me to continue writing :D**

**Hope you enjoy The Freeing Blood: Sequel to Shadow Kiss!**

*****NOTE: If you have just stumbled upon this story without having read Shadow Kiss first I definitely recommend reading it first then continuing on the journey :D *****

Prologue

_I was surrounded by a bright light. It was so bright I could feel it burning my eyes through my closed eyelids. Was I being cooked alive or something? If this was Heaven I don't think I wanted to be here._

_ "Aerolynn?" A confused voice asked. I tried to peel my eyes open so I could see who had called out my name, but when I opened them all I could see was a piercing white light._

_ "Goddamn it, would someone turn off the lights or something? Fuck. I feel like a turkey at Thanksgiving dinner being cooked in the oven," I snapped._

_ The lights, or whatever they had been, lowered considerably. I opened my eyes and glanced around to see a beautiful meadow with lush green grass and a sparkling clear waterfall in the distance. Animals grazed out in the open completely undisturbed while the birds sang and danced in the sky. I glanced down at myself vaguely remembering a bright red stain on the front of my clothes. When I looked down, however, I was wearing a mid-length opal white gown with gold stitching; my long, wavy brown hair flowing around my shoulders._

_ Seriously…where was I? The sudden appearance of a small face in front of mine caused me to shout out in surprise and scoot back along the ground._

_ "Awh, don't do that. You'll get stains on your pretty dress," a soprano voice whined._

_ The sun was shining directly from behind her casting the front of her in shadows, but that didn't stop me from recognizing those familiar bouncy curls._

_ "Mary? What are you doing here?"_

_ "I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing in Summerland?" She asked sitting down beside me._

_ "Summerland?" I inquired confused by the term._

_ She nodded her head. "Yeah. It's where trapped souls who have been saved or have finally finished their final objective on Earth come. It's not Heaven exactly. It's like a rehabilitation center for us before officially entering into the gates of Heaven. They want to make sure we get back onto the right path toward the greater good and follow the light. Make sure we don't recede back into the darkness. Something like that anyways," she shrugged._

_ "But you still haven't answered why YOU'RE here," she reiterated._

_ "I…I don't know why I'm here. I-I think I'm dead," I stammered as the realization of it all sank in. I remembered what happened now. I had turned around to go get the keys from Luke and all of a sudden my ears were ringing from close gunfire. I had been too numb from it all at the immediate loss of blood to really feel much pain. Zak…Zak had caught me as I fell backwards. I remember him yelling my name and trying to shake me awake. I could still hear his voice singing Breaking Benjamin as the last of my life drained away. The last words I heard were, 'I can't face the dark without you'. _

_ "Zak…" I whispered as I remembered feeling his tears drop onto my face. I looked up at Mary, fierce determination shining in my eyes._

_ "I can't be dead. I can't be! I have to get back to Zak. He needs me. If I don't get back to him soon…I may never be able to save him."_

_ "Maybe you're not completely dead then. Maybe you're just stuck in limbo," Mary explained._

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "Well, sometimes the souls of the near dead come here, too. Summerland is also kind of a place for souls who aren't yet ready to make the trip to Heaven because their physical body hasn't completely died yet."_

_ "So, you're saying that I may still be alive? I might be able to get back to Zak?" I questioned excitedly._

_ Mary nodded. "Yeah. I honestly don't see the big man upstairs killing you off so easily. Not when he has super big plans for you," Mary replied cryptically._

_ "Big plans?" I asked suspiciously._

_ Mary simply nodded. "Anyways…do you really think you can save Zak? You don't even know what's wrong with him. You could be signing on for a bigger task than you think of trying to save him," Mary warned._

_ "I don't care. I love him. Isn't that enough to at least allow me to go back to him and try before deciding to give up?"_

_ Mary smiled and wrapped her small, frails arms around me in a soft hug._

_ "This might hurt juuuuuust a bit," she smiled apologetically._

_ "What are y—?"_

_ She placed her hand in the center of my chest and began to push. At first nothing happened, but then slowly her hand began to sink inside my chest. I glanced up at her in alarm, but her eyes were closed focusing on what she was doing. I felt her small hand wrap around my heart as she squeezed it ever so gently._

_ "Aaaaaaaaggggghhhhhh!" I screamed in agony as she squeezed my heart again only harder. She did it again even harder. Then one last time as hard as she could._

_ She removed her hand quickly as a bright light suddenly exploded from the center of my chest and all went black._

Beep….beep….beep….

What was that incessant beeping noise?

Beep….beep….beep….

Why did I feel so tired? And why couldn't I move?

Beep….beep….beep….

Someone really needed to shut that damn thing off before I lost my mind. It was like Chinese Water Torture only with annoying beeps. _American Beeping Torture, a new modern way to lose your mind, _I thought drolly to myself.

Slowly, with what felt like having to use the strength of 10,000 men, I was able to blink open my eyes. I was immediately blinded by the overhead lights. Seriously, what was with people wanting to blind me each time I tried to wake up?

When my eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, I could feel the left side of my body completely cloaked in warmth. Yet the other half of my body was cold. What was with that? Was it some weird side effect of the meds they had put me on?

Concentrating all of my might, I turned my head to my left to see if there was a different reason one half of my body was so warm.

My face came within inches of the sleeping face of somebody I never thought I would see again after getting shot.

I had made my way back to him.

Zak Bagans.

_Thank you_, I mouthed silently to the ceiling hoping wherever she was…Mary could hear me.

I was home.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I couldn't stop staring at him. His sleeping face was just too adorable. I did vaguely wonder how he had convinced the doctor to allow him to cuddle up in bed with me. Then again…he was Zak Bagans…so I suppose I didn't have to wonder too much.

I lifted my hand and gently trailed my fingers down his nose and traced the outline of his lips. He wrinkled his nose and promptly scratched it. I smiled when he didn't even bother waking up to see what had caused the sudden itch. I softly blew on his face. He didn't even stir. I pushed my bottom lip out in a pout. That's when it hit me. I knew how I could wake him up.

I scooted my body closer to his, loving the electricity that shot throughout my body at the close contact. Even though he was pinning down my left arm, I was still able to place my right hand on his jawline to tilt his head up just a bit and press my lips against his. Within seconds, Zak's eyes flashed open to bore straight into my honey brown eyes. I pulled back with a triumphant smile.

"You're awake," he breathed.

"How long have I been out?" I asked dropping my hand to his chest.

"No questions just yet," he demanded. I bunched my eyebrows in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because there's something I need to do first."

"What?"

"This," he whispered molding his lips with mine. Unlike the gentle kiss I had given him to wake him up, this one held more fire. Beneath all that though was the feeling of relief. We were both glad that I was still alive so that we could hold each other, kiss each other, _argue_ with each other again.

We pulled away breathless; his fingers were tangled in my hair as he kept my face close. I could smell a slight hint of mint on his breath from the gum he had most likely recently chewed.

"Ok, _now_ you can ask questions," he smiled.

"How long have I been out?" I reiterated.

Zak closed his eyes as he thought over the question.

"Well, you underwent surgery immediately upon arriving at the hospital. It turns out that the gunshot wound wasn't as clean as we originally thought and it came pretty close to some vital organs like your lungs. And then you were out for the rest of the day and the next day…" Zak glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's ten at night right now, so you've probably been out for about two days."

My eyes went wide. "Two days? I mean I suppose that's not too bad, but wow," I breathed in shock.

"Another thing," I said. He cocked his brow awaiting my next request.

"Could you maybe get off my arm? I think it has lost all feeling," I smiled apologetically.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Here let me get off the bed," he quickly apologized scrambling to get off the bed.

I grabbed the back of his shirt before he could hop off the bed. He met my eyes over his shoulder.

"Don't go," I quietly commanded. "I just needed my arm back is all. If you leave the bed then I'm going to get cold now that my body has gotten used to the warmth you provided all night."

Zak nodded biting back a smile. "Of course I won't leave you. Here let me help you sit up so we can get better situated."

He grabbed my hand and placed his other hand behind my back as I struggled to get up. The bindings around my chest made it hard for me to sit up too far not to mention the pain from the recent surgery. He swung his legs back up onto the bed and lay down beside me. Once he had gotten situated, I laid back down with my head resting on his shoulder and my arm resting across his chest. Finally, I was able to take the chance and trail my hand along the toned muscles of his abdomen. My fingers dipped and rose over every groove along his stomach and across his tight, firm pecs. Zak grabbed the hand that was absentmindedly running along his chest and flipped it over to kiss the inside of my palm.

Shivers ran down my spine making goosebumps rise all along my skin. He intertwined our fingers and rested our hands back on his stomach; his thumb made soothing circles along the back of my hand. His other arm was wrapped around my shoulder. The warmth of his body and the rhythmic, soothing sound of his heart beating beneath my head almost made me fall back to sleep.

"Hey, Aero?" Zak quietly asked.

"Mmmm?" I mumbled trying my best to stay awake.

"I'm so glad you're awake and alive," he replied.

"Me too," I smiled snuggling closer to him.

"There's one more thing."

Curious, I lifted my head up off his chest to look at him. If he hadn't said it in such a worried tone, I probably wouldn't have bothered trying to gaze into his eyes.

"What is it, Zak?" I asked with concern. He refused to meet my gaze as he seriously mulled over what he was going to say.

Finally those penetrating bluish-hazel eyes locked on with mine.

"Don't freak out," he warned. My heart started racing and I could feel my palms beginning to sweat. Don't tell me he was going to leave me again?

"But…" he began hesitantly.

My heart stopped. Here it comes. He was going to tell me he had to leave me again. I'm not sure I could stand to hear it, but I had to give him the chance to—

"I love you, Aerolynn."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter guys! Things have been pretty hectic of late especially since I just started a new job just a few days ago. So that has been nuts. Anyways, here is chapter two and thank you soooooo much for being patient :D **

**Another thing that I wanted to say is I will be posting a new fanfiction story called '**_**Trade Mistakes**_**'. It is a fanfiction about the lead singer of Panic! At The Disco, Brendon Urie. So definitely keep a lookout for that! I will be posting the first chapter of that story here shortly, so be sure to look for my other story, **_**Trade Mistakes**_**.**

**Anyways, here is chapter 2! ENJOY! And once again thank you for being so patient with me through all this craziness :D**

Chapter 2

******Zak's P.O.V******

I watched her with bated breath as my words slowly sank in. I could see each and every emotion flicker across her face. First, she merely blinked at me before quietly chuckling almost nervously. Aerolynn sat up and raked a hand back through her dark silky hair. She glanced down at me; her face showed a mixture of fear and happiness.

To be honest this wasn't quite the response I had thought I was going to get. Sure, I expected her to be shocked, but then I figured that shock would turn into overwhelming joy. The more she stayed silent though, the more nervous I became. I started thinking that maybe telling her had been a bad idea. Even though I knew that telling her now may not be the best of times, I figured she needed to know where my feelings lie. I didn't want to keep her balancing on the thin line of how I felt about her. I didn't want her to have any more doubts. I wanted her to be confident in the way I felt about her so she could proudly and gladly say that I, Zak Bagans, was in love with her, Aerolynn Richards.

She quickly turned away when she saw how sad I had become at her lack of response. Did I misjudge things? Is she not attracted to me the way I thought she was? Had my kissing her so suddenly been too forward and aggressive? But she didn't seem to dislike it…she kissed me back. Why was I having all of these doubts like some schoolgirl that just received the first text from her crush with a smiley face? This wasn't who I was. I didn't get all choked up and embarrassed like this. What was wrong with me? Why did my heart feel like it was breaking right now all because she had yet to respond to my confession?

Well, whatever this feeling was I wanted it to stop.

But I had a feeling that this ache would only grow as time went on.

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~~~~~~Aerolynn's P.O.V~~~~~~

All I could do was sit there and stare. I mean…what else could I do at the sudden confession? Ok, scratch that. There were plenty of other things I could do, but that's not irrelevant at the moment. What is relevant is that Zak Bagans, THE Zak Bagans, had just said the words I have dreamed of him saying to me for years. I had even planned out how I would react in a situation like that and this was NOT what I had planned out. At all. I should be jumping up and down on the hospital bed, kissing him like crazy, and repeating those same words. By him saying this, it erased any sort of doubt in my mind of how he felt about me.

So why couldn't I find myself able to move and express to him my happiness at those words?

When I had seen his bluish-hazel eyes lower in sadness, my heart had sunk down into the depths of my stomach because I knew I had caused that sad look in his eyes. Something I had never wanted to see caused by me. But I was still so shell-shocked over what had just occurred a little more than a couple of days ago from when he had swept into the restaurant and kissed me. And now he was telling me he loved me? Don't get me wrong, my heart was about to burst with joy, but there was still that little itch in the back of my mind. That small itch you always seem to get at the worst or happiest times of your life that make you stop and THINK. We had been together for no more than three days and we were apart for four months. Was it possible to know you were in love in such a short time together, but a long time apart?

From what I have read before, based on a psychological study, a crush only lasts a maximum of four months. If it exceeds…then you are in love. But you figure that would apply to the fact that you spent a lot of time around each other. Maybe not though. I knew there had been something between us just on that first day when we met and butted heads.

I released a long sigh and turned to look at Zak.

"Zak, I—"

He held up his hand to stop me. He shook his head. "It's alright. You don't have to say anything. I understand," he quietly replied.

"Zak, just lis—"

Zak sat up continuously shaking his head. He propped his foot up on the bed and rested his arm on his knee. He dragged a hand down his face.

"What I said was uncalled for. I shouldn't have sprung that on you during a moment like this. I'm sorry," he apologized standing up from the bed.

"No, Zak, if you woul—" I tried to explain.

He cut me off again. "It's alright, Aerolynn, really it is. I just wanted you to know where my feelings stand. Anyways, I should probably let you get some re—"

"Goddamn it, Zak, would you just fucking listen to me for one goddamn second, please?" I angrily shouted. He glanced back at me, eyes wide with alarm.

"You're not allowing me to talk and explain my end of things. You're just making an ass of yourself by automatically assuming things that you don't even know are true or not," I snapped.

He folded his arms and motioned for me to continue.

"What I was GOING to say before you decided to interrupt me three damn times," I growled, "was that I don't feel disgusted, angry, or what other negative emotion you had going through your head. I'm just…overwhelmed at the moment. First, you leave me for four months and don't so much as even call me to make sure I'm doing ok. Then you just suddenly waltz back into my life and sweep me up into this searing, passionate kiss. Not that I'm saying I mind, but then I get shot that very day and wake up two days later to hear you telling me you love me. Do you see how I might not be as joyous as you may have first thought? There are too many things going on at once for me to fully process right now!" I explained.

Zak continued to stare at me after I finished with my little speech that he wouldn't let me get out the first three times. After a while he nodded his head.

"Alright, I understand," he softly agreed.

"Good," I sighed although I was sure he still didn't quite get what I was trying to tell him. Then again I wouldn't immediately understand either if the person I loved showed no reaction to me saying I love you to them.

I patted the empty, now cold spot next to me where his large, warm body had previously been lying.

"Now will you please come back to bed and keep me company through the rest of tonight?"

For a split second, I saw Zak hesitate like he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea or not. But then he smiled a small crooked grin and lay back down on the bed beside me. He pulled me down to lie across his chest. We were back to our former position before he had gotten up the courage to declare his feelings for me.

Our fingers were intertwined and lying on his stomach like before; his thumb rubbing circles on the back of my hand. Although the warmth of the moment had gone, there was still that feeling of happiness and relief.

I had a strong feeling that I returned Zak's love. It wasn't too awfully hard to figure out, but I was concerned about Zak. I didn't want to get caught up in his words only to have him realize that maybe he doesn't love me the way he thinks he does right now. That maybe it is more lust than love. I just didn't want either one of us to end up hurt. So that's why I couldn't tell Zak I loved him.

Not yet.

Not until I was sure.

Not until whatever darkness that was surrounding him…was gone.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

One week later

I was home from the hospital finally, but unfortunately they refused to allow me to do anything except shower and change my own clothes. And by 'they' I mean Zak and Mason. Mason would keep an eye on me throughout the day and then switch out with Zak at night when Mason had to head over to work my shift at Luke's pizza place. For now, Zak had edited all the episodes and sent them into the TV station saying he was going to go on temporary hiatus from the show. The producers were ok with it since he had turned in everything for the next season. They just didn't want the break to last for an extended period of time.

Mason was just about to head out for work, we were just waiting on Zak to arrive.

"You know you can leave, Mason," I sighed as I sat on the couch watching him wear down a slight trail in the carpet from all his pacing. He glanced down at his watch for the thirtieth time in the past five minutes.

"No. I won't leave you here alone," he answered gruffly.

"I was shot by some emotionally unstable man who is now locked up in jail a couple towns over. I wasn't kidnapped nor did I try to commit suicide, so I don't need to be under constant surveillance."

Mason stopped in his tracks then and turned those chocolate brown eyes on me. "It's not that, Aerolynn. I don't think you fully comprehend the gravity of the situation. You acted rashly even after we warned you to back off because we had a handle on it. We don't need you doing something again, ripping open your stitches, and creating another problem. The guy nicked the edge of your lung for heaven's sake. You should be lucky he didn't pierce it. You're too headstrong and think you can do everything and anything on your own no matter if it could cause you possible harm. So, until your wound heals completely, and I will take your doctor's word for it not yours, then you will be under constant surveillance.

"We're not telling you that you can't always go out and do something as long as it poses no harm to possibly opening your wound back open. We don't need you bleeding out on us anytime soon. The fact that you died and the doctors were barely able to revive you is a big enough scare ok? I swear to God, if I had lost you that day…" Mason stopped and released a long slow breath. "Just don't scare me like that anymore, okay? I don't think I will be able to handle it. So next time when I arrive home, try to be a little less dramatic about you not wanting me to leave alright? Just say 'hey, Mason, stay for a little bit longer' instead of getting shot in the back by some emotionally unstable gunman, got me?" Mason chided staring me down with those serious brown eyes of his.

Seeing him be so dead serious about everything was new to me. I had seen him serious before, but nothing like this. I could tell I had really given him a fright when I had gotten shot. I hadn't meant for it to happen and he knew that, but he still slightly blamed me for acting brashly and turning my back to a gun.

I nodded in understanding. "Okay, Mason, I got you. But seriously, Zak will be here in a few minutes. I think you can trust me enough to leave me on my own for a few minutes," I reassured him. He glanced once more down at his watch and anxiously watched the door.

He let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine. I'm going to head to work to cover your shift, but I want you to have Zak call me as soon as he arrives, got it?"

I nodded. "Understood, now go. I'll relay your message to Zak."

Mason bent down and kissed me on the forehead. He headed for the door, but paused to look back at me before he left.

"Oh, and one more thing," he called back. I arched a brow in curiosity.

"Don't get all hot and heavy with Zak on the couch or any other area where I may have to possibly sit, eat, bathe, or, well, wherever I would be. So keep it exclusively in the bedroom, ok?"

I tossed a pillow at him. He caught it in midair and flung it back at me with a smile. I dodged the oncoming pillow and laughed.

"It's not like that with us right now," I admitted to him. Hell, I hadn't even said I love you to him yet even though he had said it to me. Actually, we hadn't even kissed since that night at the hospital. It worried me.

"Key words: right now. Anyways, have fun, but not too much fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye!" With that Mason left to head to work. So there I sat alone wondering what in the hell I was going to do until Zak decided to show. My eyes lifted up to look at the clock hanging on the wall above the flat screen TV. He was twenty minutes late. Where could he be?

****************************************************************************************  
~~~~~~Zak's P.O.V~~~~~~

I approached the door to her apartment and took a glance at my watch. I was almost an hour late and she would probably be extremely angry with me once I went inside. I hadn't seen her brother's car downstairs which meant he must have left by some miracle. I don't think I could handle his anger although I should probably call him and let him know I had finally arrived although I was kind of scared to do so.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. I expected Aerolynn to either be on the couch watching television or in the kitchen whipping herself up something to eat, but I didn't see her anywhere. The lights were on and everything seemed to be ok…just no Aerolynn in sight.

Just then my phone went off.

"Hello?" I answered.

"You better fucking tell me that you are with my sister at this very moment," a demon named Mason growled in my ear. I gulped.

"Uh yeah, bro. I'm here. Have been for a while. I must have forgotten to call you," I nervously chuckled. How could a man that was younger than me frighten me to the very core of my being?

"Forgotten…sure. You better thank your still attached balls that my sister likes you otherwise you'd be in the hospital right now getting a certain appendage taken care of."

Mason hung up. A chill ran down my spine at the not so subtle threat. Her brother could be one scary man when it came to the care of his little sister. I slipped the phone back into my pocket and closed the door behind me. Where was she?

"Aerolynn?" I called out.

"Zak?" I heard her voice call from the bedroom. I saw her head poke out of her bedroom, a large smile on her face.

"Zak!" She darted down the hallway and flung herself into my arms.

I laughed and twirled her around. "Hey, is everything ok?"

"Yeah fine," she smiled. "Oh! You need to call my brother," she reported.

"Uh, yeah, I already did." I wasn't going to mention he actually called me first and threatened to rip off a certain important part of my body.

"Oh, great! So, uh, why are you so late?"

At that question, a wide smile split my face. I raked my gaze over her body and observed her clothing. She was wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top.

"You're gonna have to change," I tsked at her shaking my head.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why?"

"Because…I'm taking you somewhere. Now go change into something comfortable and warm," I demanded.

"Yes sir!" she giggled running back to her room. I rubbed my hands together and released a deep breath.

I really hoped she would like what I had planned for her.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Zak, where are we going?" I asked as I exited my room. I had changed out of my pajamas and into a pair of jeans and a red long sleeve t-shirt with a white winter vest zipped up over top. I flipped up the hood that was lined with faux black fur, stuck my hands in the pocket of my jeans, and cocked my head to the side looking at Zak.

He looked me up and down before meeting my gaze with a smile.

"You look great. Are you warm enough?" He asked completely avoiding my question.

I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Seriously though….where are we going?"

Zak laughed and grabbed my hands bringing me in close to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. Except I got a different feeling from him then when my brother had done it.

"You'll see. Now stop being so impatient," he cryptically answered. He glanced down at his watch making me look down as well. It was 11:23 at night.

"Come on we should get going if we want to get there on time," he urged tugging on my hand.

"But, Zak, I still—"

He swung around and crushed his lips against mine in a searing kiss that didn't last nearly as long as I wanted it to. Especially since this was the first kiss we'd had since I had rejected his confession.

He pulled away with a wide smile. "Just trust me on this. I promise this a moment you will never forget."

As we left the apartment I couldn't help but wonder what this unforgettable moment could be. He was dressed in a pair of his nice dark jeans, a midnight blue long sleeve t-shirt, and black leather jacket. He was dressed rather nicely, not seductively (well to be honest he always dressed seductively in my mind), so it couldn't possibly be THAT kind of night…right?

I gulped as my eyes traveled down his body.

Oh boy…I wasn't sure whether to be excited or afraid at the thought of what tonight might turn out to be.

****************************************************************************************

"Zak, can I look now?" I sighed playing with the blindfold he had placed around my eyes.

Zak slapped my hands away and instead grabbed them in his as we continued to walk forward. My foot caught on something making me trip and fall forward. Zak caught my arms with a chuckle.

"You're such a clutz," he whispered. His warm breath washed over my ear sending shivers down my spine. "Don't worry, babe, we're almost there. But until then…."

He slid his arm behind my knees keeping one hand behind my back and slung me up in his arms wedding style. I wrapped my arms around his neck as a small squeak of surprise left my mouth. I rested my head in the crook of his neck as he continued on the journey. It was nice being able to feel his muscles move and flex beneath the thin fabric of his clothing. It made me wonder what those muscles would feel like if they were exposed….all naked bare flesh pressed up against my own nak—

I shook my head of those thoughts and tried to focus more on what this whole surprise thing he had planned for me was.

"Alright, we're here," he notified me placing my feet back on the ground.

"So….I can look?" I asked with a small smile. I felt Zak's hands wrap around to unknot the blindfold. When he pulled the piece of cloth away all I saw was the top of his chest. I glanced up and smiled at him.

"So is my surprise your chest?" I chuckled.

"No," he smiled shaking his head. "This is."

He moved out of my line of vision and all I could do was stare. We were at the secret lake where I always came to clear my head…except…it was all lit up and glowing. We weren't standing up on the cliff where I usually ran to, but instead we were down on the side beach. We had come through the actual entrance and all across the lake were floating lanterns and…something else. I bent down and scooped up a dark floating object to observe it closer. Petals. Red rose petals. I gazed up at Zak who had a wide smile on his face. He pointed off to the side. I followed in the direction he pointed and covered my gaping mouth with my hands. Stuck in the sand were electric candles on either side of a red rose petal path that led to a romantic dinner for two laid out on a red blanket. Then on the edge of the lake's shore was a beautifully crafted gondola waiting to be taken out into the open water.

I turned back to Zak with tears in my eyes.

"How in the world…where did….why did….huh?" I stammered never being able to complete the question I wanted to ask him.

"This past week I have been looking for the perfect way to do this for you. Since I knew this lake means so much to you, I wanted to use it as the location. So I bought a lot of floating lanterns, ordered in a gondola, and went to the local florist to ask her for a "lake worthy size" of red rose petals. Then I had Nick and Aaron help me set all of this up earlier today which is why I was so late and I apologize for that, but…I just wanted to make everything perfect. There's just one more thing I need to give you," he said. He jogged over to the gondola and grabbed something out before hiding it behind his back.

Zak slowly approached me. I gulped wondering what it was he wanted to give me. And of course being the girl that I am, my mind instantly went to engagement ring even though I knew that wasn't possibly what it could be. I hoped…because if it was…I honestly don't know what I would do or say.

He took the object from behind his back and showed it to me. It was a beautiful trailing arbutus flower. The petals were small and a blush pink color. The flowers themselves almost looked like softly rounded stars. But how did he get these? They weren't even in season.

"These aren't even in season," I breathed taking the trailing flower stem from him. As I took it from his hands, something dangled from it glistening in the light that illuminated from the electric candle.

I laid the object across the palm of my hand to see what it was. My mouth dropped open again when I saw it was a necklace. The pendant was in the shape of a diamond encrusted shell. My brows furrowed in confusion over why he had chosen a shell.

He took the necklace from my hands and unclasped it.

"Because of its hard casing, the Shell is a protective image - protecting life and also symbolizes the protective quality love sometimes takes. In Roman mythology, Venus, the goddess of love, was said to be created from the foam carried ashore atop a scallop shell. The Hindu goddess Lakshmi was said to also be created from the grit and pearls within the shell. Also in Hinduism the conch shell is symbolic because it awakens the heart of the faithful and calls to those who live with heart-filled love," Zak intelligently explained as he hooked the pendant around my neck. He brushed the hair out of my face and gently cupped my jawline in his hands.

"Now….can you tell me what the arbutus I just gave you means?" he asked.

I shook my head waiting for him to tell me.

"It means," he began. He leaned in closer to me; our lips merely a centimeter apart from each other.

"That you're the only one I love," he whispered before brushing his lips against mine. I closed my eyes during that brief moment of contact. Before I had the chance to open them, he molded our lips together in an achingly slow, passionate kiss. He took his time exploring every inch of my mouth before our tongues went one on one in a passionate duel. I wrapped my arms around his neck, the flower still tightly gripped in my hand, and pulled him down to me so that the kiss could deepen. He wrapped one hand in my hair while pulling our bodies closer with the other one. I could feel every inch of his body against mine; I could feel the smooth ripple of his muscles moving beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. The growing pressure against my stomach was even harder to notice. Our lips were locked in a long, slow kiss for what felt like eternity. Not that I minded.

When we finally pulled away, I could feel that my lips were swollen, but looking up at him I could see his were, too.

"Zak…" I breathed not sure if this was all some sort of dream I was having. I was afraid I had fallen asleep waiting on him and this would just turn out to be the best dream I had ever had since first seeing him on television.

He checked the time on his watch and smiled before locking eyes with me.

"It's 12:02 and you know what that means?" he asked trailing his thumb across my bottom lip.

"No….what?"

He chuckled. "Happy birthday, Aerolynn," he congratulated before closing his lips over mine for another mind blowing kiss.

He pulled away and grabbed my hand to lead me over to the dinner he had laid out for us.

"I figured we could eat and then go out on the gondola," he suggested. All I could do was nod, my head still cloudy from his kiss.

We sat down as he began pouring a glass of red wine.

"You….you did all of this…for my birthday?" I asked. Even I had forgotten my birthday was coming up, but he had remembered and had gone all out. Did Mason know about this? Though as worried as he seemed earlier, I would say he didn't.

"Of course. At the hospital, when I told you I loved you, you didn't seem entirely convinced that I loved you for the right reasons. So…I wracked my brain trying to come up with a way I could show you. That's when I overheard Mason talking to Luke about how your birthday was coming up…so I planned all of this out then had Nick and Aaron help me with ordering some of the stuff," he explained handing me my glass.

That explained why he had seemed so distant this week. He hadn't been avoiding me…he had been busy planning. I watched as Zak took out some of the food and began preparing it. He hadn't been mad knowing I doubted his love. Instead, he had been busy thinking of ways to prove it and redeem himself. He wanted to earn my love. Which told me more than any words or actions could ever say.

I placed my hand on his arm to catch his attention. Those eyes glanced up at me with curiosity. I scooted closer to him on the blanket placing one hand to grab the edge of his belt and the other hand on the side of his face to keep him looking at me.

I brought his head down to mine so that our lips could meet in a short kiss.

"Zak," I whispered. I opened my eyes only to see he still had his closed.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," I softly confessed. His eyes slowly fluttered open then to meet my gaze. A large smile split his face as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Oh god, Aerolynn, I love you, too. So much," he softly chuckled in relief.

I smiled into our kiss.

That kiss…it lasted for eternity.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Alright, guys, sorry it took so long to finally update! And i'm sorry i lied to you when i said the chapter would be updated a couple of days ago :( don't hate me! I think you will DEFINITELY find this chapter worth the wait though. As well as the next chapter :)**

**So please enjoy! And remember...ALWAYS READ AND REVIEW :) it makes the world feel like a better place when you do xD**

Chapter 5

"So did you want to take a romantic ride on the gondola and have me sing you a song?" Zak teased wiggling his eyebrows.

I laughed and playfully slapped him on the arm. "I'm not sure how well your rowing skills are, but you're singing is terrible," I joked.

He grabbed at his shirt over his heart. "Agh, you wound me," he groaned.

"I think it was your singing that pushed me further into death's arms," I chuckled. My laughter slowly faded though when I saw that he did not find my joke quite as funny. Actually, there was a muscle tic in his jaw from where he clenched his teeth together in irritation. My eyes dropped to gaze down at my hands as the air around us crackled with uncomfortable tension. And here we had been having such a good night, too, and I had to go and ruin it. I mentally facepalmed myself for my stupidity.

"Zak, I—"

"You think it's ok to just joke about something like that?" he quietly asked. I could hear his barely contained anger. I lifted my gaze to look at him.

"You're singing really isn't that ba—"

"I'm not talking about my singing!" he snapped clashing heated eyes with mine. Only they weren't heated with passion the way I wanted them to be right now. No…they were heated from anger. I flinched back like he had slapped me across the face. Even though Zak would never hurt me, it was clear that I had hurt him. Just not physically. No…I had stabbed him straight in the heart. I had never seen his face so full of hurt, anger, and anguish before. I mean sure I had seen him mad, but this was different. This time he wasn't just being a hotheaded jerk…this time he had been emotionally hurt by the one he loved: me.

"You think it's funny? You think that since a week has passed that makes it all ok to joke about?" He hissed.

"Well, I—"

"Well, it's not ok, Aerolynn! You were shot _just last week_ and you _died_. We're lucky that they were able to get your heart beating again long enough to stitch you up and put you in a hospital bed. Or has this not sunk in with you yet?" Zak gently cupped my face between his hands and lowered his voice as he brought his face close to mine. "I almost lost you. Not just for a few days or for four months…for the rest of my life. Here I was just realizing how I felt about you and you thank me by getting shot and dying. Do you know how crazy I was for the next couple of days?"

Zak rested his forehead against mine closing his eyes. A tear ran down his face.

"And to hear you joking about it and taking it so lightly…it hurts me inside, Aerolynn. I feel like you don't even care that you basically lost me as well when you were shot. Like it was all just one big joke to you. When I saw your life slowly fading and you growing colder, I could feel my heart being torn out of my chest and going with you," Zak whispered.

I placed my hand over his that was resting on my face. I removed his hand and pressed my lips gently to the center of his palm. I leaned into his warm hand.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. My brother basically freaked out over the same thing earlier today when I told him I would be fine on my own, but hearing it from you? It really makes an impact because I never want to hurt you this way," I admitted brushing my lips lightly across his.

"I almost lost you…I don't want to lose you. I don't want to go through that agony anymore," he replied shakily. Even his breathing had turned uneven.

I pulled myself away only to wrap my arms around Zak and cradle his head against my chest; I rested my cheek on the top of his head as a tear rolled down my face.

"I'm so sorry. I just don't think sometimes," I said.

"Isn't that the truth," he scoffed. I smiled at his attempt to try and lighten the atmosphere again.

He pulled out of my embrace and dug around in the picnic basket he had brought. He pulled out a plastic container full of…I squinted to try and make out what it was. When he opened the lid, a large smile burst forth across my face.

"Is that what I think it is?" I breathed barely holding my excitement back.

Zak raised a brow as his lips curled into a sly smile.

"Close your eyes," he commanded.

I instantly shut my eyes waiting for the moment that delicious bite of food would enter my mouth.

"Alright, now open your mouth," I heard him say. I situated myself around to where I was sitting on my knees. I opened my mouth. It began watering as I waited in anticipation. Finally that sweet bitter goodness of tiramisu hit my tongue.

I closed my mouth and chewed it slowly. Although, to be honest, there wasn't much chewing involved since as soon as it hit my tongue, the espresso drenched, bitter-sweet cake melted in my mouth. Oh god it was so good I nearly orgasmed at its delicious flavor. I could go fat by eating nothing but tiramisu all day.

Before I could even open my eyes to see if Zak was going to feed me another bite, I felt his lips meet mine. The touch was surprisingly soft and gentle. Lingering wetness from the chaste kiss cooled on my lips, a cold reminder of what just passed and a promise of things to come. We kissed again, this time with more passion and certainty. Heat passed between us, our breaths trapped by our lips. Previously soft touches became bruising, desperate, his tongue teasing and trapping mine, the kiss now a lovers' mockery of battle. Fingers twisted into my hair, pulling me closer even as I did the same. Velvet silence enveloped us, accompanied only by the rush of blood and sounds of our lips parting for breath.

"Wh-what was that?" I breathed still unable to fully catch my breath.

"Your face... it looked so full of pleasure when I fed you the tiramisu, it made me want to see what it tasted like," he replied with a smile. Although I could tell he was trying to breathe normally, his voice still shook some.

I chuckled. "Then why didn't you just take a bite of the tiramisu itself?"

"Because tasting it off your lips was much more….satisfying," he said, his voice deepening on the last word. Shivers ran down my spine.

"Hey, Zak?"

He pressed a finger to my lips to silence me.

"How about we forget the gondola ride and instead head back to the apartment before your brother gets home?" he suggested quietly. There was a raw passion in his voice and a burning desire in his eyes that frightened me, but at the same time made my stomach knot with excitement.

I couldn't even find my voice to speak; all I could do was nod.

He gently grasped my hand in his and helped me up off the blanket. He began leading me back to the car. I didn't even have the good sense to ask him what he was going to do with all the stuff like the lanterns and food. I didn't care at that moment.

At that moment all I wanted to feel was Zak's bare flesh moving against mine in a lover's embrace. Heat shot throughout my body.

He glanced back at me over his shoulder and flashed me a naughty smile. I did everything I could to not trip all over myself at that smile. That smile confirmed any doubts I had.

Tonight… was going to be the night.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We had arrived back at the apartment in a little under twenty minutes. Zak had barely put the car in park and turned off the engine when he was suddenly by my door opening it for me. I gazed up at him underneath my lashes. The pale rays of the moon shone down on his back casting the front of him in shadow.

He reached out a hand waiting for me to grasp it with my smaller one. My heart raced; my palms shone with a light sheen of sweat. How had it come to this? How had we gotten here? I mean…this was Zak Bagans we were talking about. Not some everyday person from my hometown. This was ZAK. BAGANS.

I took a deep breath and grasped his hand in mine. I couldn't help but worry about his reaction to holding my sweaty palm in his, but all he did was gently tug me out of the car and close the door shut behind me. Before I could move forward, Zak pushed me up against the car door pressing his body close to mine. I could feel the heat of his body radiating off him in waves and soaking into my own warm skin. He brushed his hand down my cheek with a smile. That one little crooked smile made my legs turn to jello beneath me. If Zak hadn't had me pinned against the car I would be collapsed on the ground at the moment.

He gently cupped my face. "Your face is hot," he stated with a knowing smile.

"Well, you had the heater blasting at my face the entire car ride home. It's no wonder I didn't collapse from heatstroke," I retorted with half the sassiness most of my comebacks came with.

"Then allow me to carry you," he suggested. Before I could so much as reject or accept his offer, Zak swooped me up in his arms and held me tightly against his chest.

"There. Now you won't have to worry about your legs giving out from…heatstroke," he said with a sly smile playing along with my lie.

He took the stairs two at a time and reached the top in half the time it would normally take for me to climb the stairs. Zak glanced down at me with a raised eyebrow. It was then that I realized during our ascent, I had wrapped my arms tightly around his neck clinging to him in fear he might trip and fall.

"Thanks for the lift," I half chuckled. "You can set me down now."

The deep chuckle rumbled against my side and made me look up. The heat in his gaze made me weak with anticipation. Desire, hot and strong, was there plain as the nose on his face. He strode towards my apartment door and easily maneuvered his hold on me to swing open the door only to kick it closed behind us when we entered. My heart stumbled in my breast as he spun around and let my legs slide free, but kept his arms vised around me, crushing me between the hard, hot, muscled length of him and the cool wood door.

I moaned his name, and he pinned his hips to mine, holding me like a butterfly against a swath of black velvet. The image shifted to one of pure pleasure as he lowered his lips to my ear and rasped, "I want to take my time with you, Aerolynn Richards, but I don't have the strength to wait that long."

His lips teased the edge of my ear as he nibbled a path down the tendon in my throat. Warmth swept up from my toes, as desire began to build.

"Let me have you now, Aerolynn," he begged. "We can go slow later."

Bereft of words, overwhelmed by need for this man, I tilted my head back and tightened my arms around his neck. Sliding the tip of my tongue along his bottom lip, I bit it and had the satisfaction of watching his eyes glaze over. I needed to torture him as much as watching him and wanting him had tortured me.

His lips took mine in a ravenous kiss; using teeth, tongue, and lips, he drove every thought from my head but one. Now.

He came up for air before diving down to sample the deep V of skin above my red shirt, licking and nipping the skin until the heat from his mouth seared a path from the depths of my cleavage to the base of my ear.

"Zak!"

He reared back, nostrils flaring, mouth in a firm straight line. Unsure what he waited for, trying to ignore the way my heart opened to him, ready to let him in, but afraid if I did he'd leave again, I murmured, "Please?"

His grin was quick, but lethal. "Yes, ma'am."

His mouth fused to mine as his hands got busy unzipping my vest before gripping the ends of my shirt and tugging it off over my head. He unclasped my bra and slowly began slipping the straps off my shoulders and easing it off of me to fall to the floor with my top and vest. His groan of pleasure sprinted through me as he filled his hands with my breasts, teasing them into hard, pointed peaks as his head lowered to sup from their bounty.

"I can't—" Breathe. See. Stand. Pick one; all I could do was feel. Zak was igniting flames of desire in so many places at once my brain couldn't keep up.

My breasts ached and my lips tingled… and then he found the lacy thong I'd put on earlier with him in mind. Why in the world I had decided to wear such a thing with as cold as it was outside, I had no clue. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this was how the night was going to end.

Naked. I'm not sure how he'd managed it so quickly, but I'd lost my top, my lacy thong…even my mind.

"Now," I demanded, pulling him closer. "I want you naked…NOW."

Zak grinned as he kicked off his shoes and grabbed my hands in his to pull me toward the bedroom. The cool air on my bare skin made goosebumps break out all over my body. Zak closed my bedroom door behind us. I heard the subtle click of the lock as he trapped me within the dark, cool walls of my bedroom.

"Well this won't do," he sighed.

"What won't do?"

"This is one time I don't want to be shrouded by darkness," he murmured walking over to my bedside table to switch on my lamp. Those blue-hazel eyes burned deep with a blazing hunger. He strode back over to me and yanked my naked body close to his still fully clothed body. He cupped my face and brought his mouth down on mine. His tongue penetrated my moistness; his mouth sucking my tongue into his. He kissed me until I was achy, breathless and clinging to him.

My hands slid down his chest to rest at the button of his jeans. I popped the button through the hole and tugged the zipper down. Before I could push the jeans off his hips, his hands removed mine from the hem of his pants.

I glanced up at him in question. He smiled and placed my hands upon the top button of his shirt.

"Let's start from the top," he said with a smirk. All I could do was nod my head. My entire body was trembling from the mere thought of getting this man naked and feeling him inside me. To press his naked flesh against mine and feel his muscles ripple beneath his skin as we moved in a set rhythm of love and passion.

I fumbled to unfasten that top button with my sweaty fingers. It probably looked like this was my first time undressing a man when it wasn't. I finally got the top button open and glanced down his shirt. Ten more buttons to go. I quietly groaned. I needed to woman up and pretend I was unbuttoning the shirt of just any regular guy who wasn't Zak Bagans.

"Want help?" he chuckled as he noticed my blundering fingers.

"No!" I snapped. "This is my job."

Zak placed a couple fingers beneath my chin and tilted my head back to meet his gaze. It was the steady patience shining in his eyes that boosted my level of confidence. My eyes never straying from his, I worked my hands down his shirt unclasping each button with a swiftness that surprised me. I broke eye contact when I realized I had reached the last button. I pushed the shirt off his shoulders to reveal beautiful, tan skin. I traced my hands along the rippling muscles of his arms, up passed the tattoos on each bicep of his arms, and to his shoulders.

He leaned down and nuzzled the sensitive skin between my neck and shoulder leaving a trail of fiery kisses all along the side of my neck leading up to my ear.

My breathing came out in short rasps as his hands moved lower on my body to rest on the curve of my hips. My hands made their way past the ridges of his toned abs to push his pants down off his waist.

Zak lifted his head from my collarbone at the sound of my giggle.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"No underwear?" I cocked a brow as a provocative smile teased the corners of my mouth.

"None is needed for this occasion," he retorted.

"But I wanted to have the pleasure of taking them off you," I pouted. Zak dipped his head lower to suck my bottom lip into his mouth and gently bite it between his teeth.

"I've lost my patience with you," he growled zealously.

He crushed his lips to mine in a fervent kiss that displayed the depths of his longing as he pushed me back onto the bed. I moaned, first in outrage, then in helpless surrender, as his tongue slid in and out of my mouth in so sexual a cadence I could feel every bone in my body begin to melt away.

I knew the moment he sensed my surrender at his kiss. His tongue had ceased to be a plunderer and instead became a lover, stroking my mouth to ecstasy. By slow degrees, my struggles ceased, my body relaxed and became pliant, molding itself to his, reshaping itself to fit his steely contours.

His parted lips followed the curve of my breast. Then he lifted his head and visually devoured my nakedness in the dim lighting cast from the bedside lamp. He cupped one breast in his hand and played with the dusky crest until it became stiff. Growling with gratification, he ducked his head and whisked it with his tongue, again and again, until all I could do was cling to him for support.

He raised my hand to his lips and kissed the palm, then carried it down to the length of his sex. He acquainted me with the dimension, the power and strength, of the desire he had for me and only me.

He stared deeply into my eyes, searching for any signs of reluctance of what we were about to do. In my eyes I knew that all he would see would be the leaping arcs of desire burning deep within. He impressed a hungry, twisting kiss on my all too receptive mouth. His sex became even fuller within my caressing grasp. He nudged my knees apart and settled himself heavily within the cradle that my thighs provided.

In one long, torturing slow plunge, he imbedded himself between the stretching walls of my body. Thrilled with his magnificent strength, I brought my knees up to accommodate him. He moaned with absolute pleasure and buried his face in my hair that was spread out over the pillow.

Though it seemed impossible, he delved deeper inside me with each rhythmic push. I felt those supple contractions against my hands that greedily drew him closer, higher. He kissed my ears, my throat, and, as his thrusts accelerated, my mouth.

After several moments I clasped his head and held it away from me. My breath was choppy; my flushed breasts rose and fell with each shallow pant.

"You don't have to wait on me, Zak."

He looked surprised, and then smiled tenderly. "Yes I do."

"No, really. You don't have to do that for me."

"I'm not," he said hoarsely. "I'm doing it for me."

I let out a joyful little gasp when he slid his splayed hands beneath my hips. He rubbed his face against my nipples…once…twice…letting me feel his cheeks, chin, nose, and tongue against them.

With his next deep thrust, my neck involuntarily arched and I lost myself in this glorious rite. My hips responded to his clenching fingers. I ground my body against his wanting more…always more.

He gently bit the sensitive skin between my neck and shoulder. That's when it hit me. That's when I could feel myself being seized by a rush of sensation so intense I couldn't contain it. I bit my lower lip to hold back a scream of pleasure. The immensity of it was compounded when I felt, deep inside me, the staccato spasms of his release.

****************************************************************************************  
~~~~~~Zak's P.O.V.~~~~~~

Every movement was pulling at me, dragging me even closer to the edge. Every shift gave a breathtaking hint of mindless ecstasy that seemed to grow with each second. She shuddered beneath me and clutched my shoulders for strength, losing herself with each thrust of my tongue and each pumping caress from my manhood.

I mastered her mouth and her body until she was weeping with it. I gently bit the sensitive skin of her neck, and her arousal gushed through her like a tidal wave, a solid wall of incredible pleasure that took her past the point of no return. Ripples of ecstasy flooded through her, changing her, making her indelibly mine.

Distantly, I heard her cries, and they touched me as nothing ever had. I felt the first rush and jerked. My blood roared through my veins like wildfire, burning and stinging. I buried my face deep into her shoulder and muffled my shout. Then, surrendering to the longest, hottest release of my life, I joined Aerolynn in a world where I'd never been and where I'd never want to return from.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

******Zak's P.O.V.******

_Warmth. My body was coated with unusual warmth. My clothes felt soaked with something. It felt like I had run through the sprinklers with my clothes on. I looked down my body to see what could possibly coating it. All I could see were dark speckles sprayed up my arms and a dark slash along the bottom of my shirt and jeans. That's when I noticed it. I glanced down at the ground when I saw the gleam of light flash across the length of the blade. Except the blade didn't gleam a shining silver, instead it had a deep red tint to it._

_ I frantically looked around wondering what was going on. Why I was covered in blood and why there was a knife on the ground at my feet? My eyes landed on a long, thick trail of blood that led to a white door. Bloody handprints were printed all along the edges of the door like whoever had been attacked put up a great struggle. I slowly walked toward the door not even bothering to notice that the only thing in this room was the thick trail of blood leading to this door. All I wanted to know is why I was covered in this blood._

_ I gently pushed open the door, but all I could see was darkness. I could vaguely make out the shape of a bed and something lying on top of the mattress. I ran my hands along either side of the wall looking for a light switch, but found nothing. I hesitantly made my way to the center of the room and felt my foot slip on something slick. My hand shot out and grabbed onto a metal chain that dangled from the ceiling. That chain switched on the light from the ceiling fan to wash the room with light. What I had slipped on was blood. A thick, ruby red puddle of blood had been spilled at my feet, but it didn't end there. The trail of blood that had led to the door continued to lead over to the bed where a figure lay._

_ My body began to convulse as I realized who the figure lying on the bed was. I slowly made my way over to the bed. I fell to my knees beside the bed as I saw her still form covered in mass amounts of blood. Everything in me had become numb. My mind had gone blank. I was still clueless as to what had happened. She coughed, a weak and tragic sound coming from the same lips that had brought me nothing but joy and fulfillment. I sprang up to my feet to hover over her. Her once beautiful honey brown eyes were now dull and glazed over as the cold hands of death gradually took over her._

_ "Aerolynn?" I could hear my voice crack from fear. Fear that I was going to lose her again. Only this time for good. There was so much blood. Not only covering her, but on the floor. Even the bed sheets were soaked._

_ Those glazed brown eyes sluggishly shifted to my face. I fell back onto my butt in shock and disbelief. I brought a shaky hand up to my forehead as tears fell down my face. There had been no mistaking what I saw shining within the depths of her eyes. Fear. Pure and unadulterated fear. The last glint of life had disappeared from her eyes shortly after. I glanced down when I felt something jabbing into my hand. The knife lay there beneath my palm covered in blood. I picked it up and wiped away the blood on my pant leg. I met my reflection's gaze. My eyes…my eyes were no longer the stormy blue I saw every morning when I woke up. They were now a dark, soulless, onyx black. And the tears that were running down my face weren't the normal clear, salty tears I cried. They were a thick, crimson red. The color appeared to be almost black._

_ My eyes traveled back up to the bed where I could see Aerolynn's profile; her once rich honey brown hair now matted with blood spread out across the pillows. I didn't remember what exactly had happened, but there was one thing in my mind I knew for certain. I had killed Aerolynn._

I flew up in bed with a hand clasped to my chest. My breath came out in short, shallow gasps as my heartbeat gradually slowed back to normal. Those eyes…not just hers….but mine as well. A sharp pain stabbed my chest. I tossed the covers aside and dashed to the bathroom inside Aerolynn's bedroom. I flipped on the light and waited as my eyes adjusted to the sudden assault on my retinas. After they adapted to the light, I stared at my reflection in the large mirror over the sink. My eyes were the same color as always: a stormy blue. They weren't the black they had been in my dream nor was my body covered in her blood.

"Zak?" My eyes flashed over to the bed to see Aerolynn sitting up clutching the sheets to her chest in one hand while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the other.

I opened my mouth to assure her everything was ok when a sudden wave of pain cut through my chest. I fell to my knees breathless. From the corner of my eye I could see Aerolynn scramble off the bed and dash over to me not even noticing we were both completely naked.

"Zak? Zak, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" She asked in a panic roaming her hands all over my body searching for any signs of where my pain may be coming from.

I was swept up in the tidal waves of agony. My vision blurred. My lungs constricted. I could barely breathe so there was no way I could tell Aerolynn that the pain wasn't deriving from the surface of my body. I couldn't tell her she couldn't easily slap a Band-Aid on it or have me toss back a couple pills. This pain was emanating from inside and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Zak, please talk to me," she sobbed grabbing my face and pecking my lips. I fell to the ground onto my side and rolled over onto my back. I wrapped my arms around my sides, digging my trimmed nails into my skin. There was no relief for this overwhelming pain.

"Zak," Aerolynn said touching a hand to my chest. A sudden blow of blinding pain shot through my chest where she touched me. It was screaming at me to make her go away, for her to stop touching me…to stop helping me. My blood had turned to fire, burning my insides and making me squirm in pain. My mind had gone blank from the agony.

Tears fell from my eyes of their own accord as I lifted a shaking hand from my side and threw her hand off me. The electrifying torture that had overtaken my body lessened immensely.

Aerolynn looked at me shocked.

"Zak…?"

"I can't…" I panted. I lay on my back as the pain disappeared as suddenly as it had come. My breath came out in hard, shallow puffs.

"You can't what?" she asked concerned making sure not to touch me again. "You can't breathe? You can't move? What?"

I shook my head. "I can't…I don't think I can…do this…anymore," I breathed.

"What do you mean?" her voice had grown quiet.

I closed my eyes to hold back the chance of any more tears spilling forth.

"Zak…" her fingers brushed along my bicep.

My head slammed back onto the ground, the upper half of my body lifting from the cool bathroom tiled floor. I clenched my teeth together as another wave of fiery pain swept through my body originating from the touch on my bicep. My eyes snapped open in sudden, unexplained rage. I grabbed Aerolynn around her neck and slammed her to the ground as I straddled her hips.

"Don't touch me!" I growled with a burning rage that, in the back of my mind, I was unsure of where it came from. My voice sounded deeper than normal and the look of fear in her eyes probably reflected mine. Feeling her frail neck slowly being crushed by my hand excited me at the same time it completely terrified me. The only thing that was running through my mind was the fact that I needed to kill her. I could feel her fingers clawing at my hand begin to lessen as her face lost its healthy glow. What was happening to me? I didn't understand what was going on. All I knew was that I wanted to wake up from this like it was just a dream I had been having within a dream.

I clambered off her body, scuttling backwards until my back pressed up against the cool wooden cabinet doors of the sink. The handles bit into my shoulder blades forcing me to come to grips with what I had almost done.

Aerolynn remained on the ground gasping and coughing for air and clutching her neck where I had nearly choked the life from her. What have I done? What was that? What had become of me? I hadn't been Zak Bagans in that moment….I had turned into….a monster. I tucked my legs against my chest and buried my head in my knees. Tears created warm, salty tracks down my face.

Whatever had taken over me, the darkness or whatever it had been, it did not like Aerolynn's touch. For a moment, I had allowed myself to revel in the feeling of her life slowly leaving her body. This darkness, if that's what it indeed was that lived inside me, was continuously growing at a steadfast rate. The longer I pushed it back and held it off, the angrier it became and the harder it shoved back to be released. And for a moment I had let that control on the darkness slip and it had taken over refusing Aerolynn's touch. It knew her touch would ultimately save me.

I lifted my head when I felt a light touch on my arm. Aerolynn stared at me with those wide honey brown eyes that were filled with forgiveness and understanding. Seeing that look in her eyes made me breakdown completely. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They spilt forth hot from my eyes as Aerolynn wrapped me in her embrace.

I was a danger to not only myself, but I had become a danger to her. I couldn't stay around her. If I wasn't around her it would be easier for me to keep control of the darkness. I wouldn't have to worry about snapping and taking that sudden loss of control out on her and possibly killing her. I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't keep putting her in constant danger. Not when I knew I was the cause of it. Her safety, her life, meant more to me than anything else in this world.

This darkness inside me didn't want to be saved and it had given me two very clear warnings: one in my dream and one just now.

Either I leave Aerolynn now or it would kill her by my hands.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! Things have been pretty crazy. Not only that, but this next chapter is kind of sad and I honestly didn't want to have to write it because it broke my heart so much, but anyways I finally got it written :)**

**I hope you enjoy it, even if it does make you sad. This is probably the longest chapter where I have written in Zak's POV xP**

**Here is Chapter 8 of The Freeing Blood for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! And remember to read and REVIEW :)**

**Chapter 8**

********Zak's P.O.V********

After my episode, Aerolynn and I had gone back to bed where we made love once more. Only instead of it being fast and intense, it was slow and passionate. Long and endless. I had to fight back the urge to cry as I realized this would be the last time we made love before I left her. There was just no way I could stay after what had just occurred. She may be able to forgive me, but I could not forgive myself quite so easily. I held her tightly to my chest as I watched her fall into a deep slumber.

Once I was positive she was fully asleep, I hesitantly unwrapped my arms from around her soft, warm body. Even when she was asleep, Aerolynn radiated life. That was I wanted to keep seeing. That brilliant glow of life shining from her. Not the dull, cold feel of her skin from where Death had ripped it from her. The way I almost had. I couldn't bear to see that look of fear shining in her eyes again. I just couldn't.

I stood up from the bed and began searching in the dark for my clothes. I slid each item on my body still in search for my shoes before realizing I had kicked them off out in the living room from when we had first come in. I raked a hand back through my disheveled hair making sure my keys and phone were safely tucked inside my pocket. Then I quietly scanned the room making sure I had left nothing else behind. I didn't want there to be a trace of me when she woke up. Her heart would be broken enough knowing that I had left in the middle of the night, but that's ok. I would rather her broken heart be beating than have it broken and still.

I shuffled over to the bed and gazed down at her sleeping form. The pale rays of moonlight shone in through her bedroom windows between her curtains to cast her face in its delicate light. She was so beautiful. It made my heart ache even more to know that I would be letting her down once again by leaving her for a second time. I hadn't planned on leaving her again, but this whole thing had gotten out of control. I thought I could keep a better grip on the darkness, but I was wrong. I needed to get away as quickly as possible.

I reached out a hand to brush back the stray hairs from her face, but stopped myself within centimeters of her cheek. What if my touch woke her up? Or she turned over in the bed to search for my body and, not finding anything, it would jolt her awake? I couldn't have that because if she saw me like this…she would never allow me to leave. Not again. Especially not after tonight.

My fingers curled into my palm as I drew my hand slowly away from her face. I just couldn't take the chance. I gazed down at her for a moment longer before unlocking the door and quietly slipping out into the dark hallway closing the door behind me. Unfortunately for me, the light was on in the kitchen and I could hear the faintest sound of the television on coming from the living room. I sighed hoping that I wouldn't have had to deal with him, but it looked like I was going to have to. If he thought the worst of me? Then fine. I could live with that.

As I slowly made my way down the short hallway, I saw my shoes sitting beside one another next to the door. Aerolynn's clothes were sitting neatly folded on the kitchen bar. First, my gaze traveled to the left to see if Mason was sitting (or sleeping) on the couch with the television on. Nope. So my gaze switched to the right where I saw him leaning against the counter beside the fridge. His arms were folded menacingly across his chest; his dark brown eyes cast downward at the floor. I took a deep breath and approached him.

For a long time his eyes stayed glued to the floor making the entire atmosphere between us grow uncomfortable. But then he finally lifted his gaze to meet mine. I flinched back at the undeniable rage I saw burning deep within the young man's eyes. He was definitely not a happy brother right now.

"So, now that you have officially fucked my sister," he spat, "it's time for you to leave and get back to your glorious famous lifestyle?"

Good. He was thinking the worst. I could handle this. I tilted my chin back a bit and held my head high in confidence.

"A guy like me doesn't settle down with one woman. We come, we explore places and people, and then we leave. It's just how we do things. Your sister just happened to be one of the many people I explored," I replied with a false cocky attitude.

I braced myself waiting for her military brother to lunge himself at me and tackle me to the ground to beat my face in, but he didn't budge. Instead he just continued to stare at me in complete silence. The fact that he wasn't doing anything made me even more nervous than if he had acted out. That's when I saw the strangest thing. The anger that had been burning in his eyes…it slowly faded into sadness and sympathy.

He must have seen my brows furrowed in confusion because he sighed.

"There's no need to lie and pretend you're a jerk, Zak. I already have an idea as to why you're REALLY leaving," he explained.

I cocked a brow in curiosity folding my arms across my chest. I had to keep playing the cocky attitude. I couldn't back down. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, actually, I do. Nick told me all about your little demon. He told me about that darkness thing or whatever you had growing inside of you."

My eyes widened in surprise. He knew about that?

"Yeah, I know about it," Mason eerily answered the question in my mind. "Don't look all surprised. Did you really think I would let my sister date a celebrity without doing a little bit of digging into his personal background? You can't always take the word of the internet, you know. I figured Nick would be the best to ask since he's been with you since the very beginning."

"I…I…" I stuttered unsure of what to say to that revelation.

"You what? Didn't think I would understand your situation? That I would throw a few punches out of anger and resentment towards you leaving my sister in the middle of the night after having fucked her?" Mason said.

I nodded. Before I knew what was happening, a fist met the side of my face with a solid crack. I stumbled sideways a bit before catching my balance. I clutched the side of my face as it throbbed with immense pain. Mason shook his hand a couple times before shoving both hands deep into his front pockets.

"What the hell man?" I snapped.

"I gave you what you were expecting. Don't tell me that punch came as a surprise to you?" Mason's lips twisted into a devilish grin of amusement.

I stretched my mouth open wide and rotated it in hopes of diminishing some of the pain his punch had inflicted upon my jaw.

"It doesn't, but I expected it sooner," I admitted.

"Oh you mean after the dick comment you made about exploring my sister?" Mason asked. I nodded.

The man shrugged his broad shoulders. "Too predictable."

"So you understand why I have to leave like this?" I inquired getting back to the more important topic at hand.

Mason shook his head. "Nah, man, not completely. I understand a part of the reason why, but my main concern is my sister. Do you understand what will happen to her when she finds out you left her again?" he asked with apprehension.

I nodded, releasing a sad sigh. "Yeah, I do. She'll be thoroughly heart broken."

Mason gave me an odd look before bursting with laughter. "Wow, man, you're funny. You think she will go all melodramatic teenager and hole herself up in her room to cry out her eyes and whine about how she won't be able to survive without you by her side?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Um, maybe?" I answered cautiously.

Mason's brows bunched together as he gave me a questioning look. "Do you even KNOW my sister at all? Have you not been paying attention?"

I merely stared at the man. DID I know his sister? I was pretty damn sure I did, but thinking back on it…I hadn't really discovered much about her except a little bit of her family life. And then there was the vague moment back at the MacMiller house where she had mentioned the ghost thing happening to her again. What had she meant by that?

Mason let out a disappointed sigh. "Let me ask you a simpler question: did she go all melodramatic like that when you left her the FIRST time?"

"No, I don't believe she did."

"Alright, so we're getting somewhere. Look, the point is, my sister isn't that type of person. Yeah, ok, she'll cry for a bit. Maybe even punch some things, namely me, but she'll get over it and instead get angry. And then it's YOUR ass that's in trouble because this time? This time she will hunt you down and find you for herself instead of waiting on that SLIGHT chance that you might return to her. This time she will come to you, only it won't be a happy reunion like it was a couple weeks ago. Well, before she got shot anyways," her brother tacked on.

I gulped looking away from those honest brown eyes. He was right. She would track me down. Then that just meant I would have to hide somewhere in a place that not even she or her brother could locate me.

My smoky blue gaze lifted to clash eyes with him. "Then I will deal with that if and when the time comes, but I have to leave. It's for her safety," I told him.

Mason stood there keeping his eyes locked with mine. I knew he was searching my eyes for more of an answer to the plethora of questions I'm sure he held in his mind, but there was none I was willing to give him. All he needed to know was that I had to leave this way because otherwise I wouldn't be allowed to go.

"You know why I have to leave this way," I quietly stated.

"I know. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it or like it. In the end, you're still breaking my little sister's heart and that is something I cannot forgive," he replied.

I nodded in understanding. "And putting her in harm's way because of this thing inside me? That is something I myself cannot forgive," I answered back.

Mason nodded and slid his gaze over to the hallway where, I presumed, he was looking at Aerolynn's closed bedroom door. Beyond that door, the woman I so desperately loved lie peacefully sleeping still surrounded by the warmth and comfort of her dreams. My heart twisted from the unbearable agony at knowing that when she awoke to find herself alone in that large bed…all of her dreams from the night before would be shattered.

Mason and I met eyes. A silent understanding passed between us. He would lie for my sake telling her I had left for selfish reasons. We both knew that if she knew the real reason I had left, then nothing would stop her from chasing after me. Neither one of us wanted Aerolynn to get hurt again. And by telling her that I had never truly loved her and that it was all a ruse to get into her pants? Then maybe, just maybe, she would hate me enough to not want to search for me. Maybe she would move on with her life and settle down with Luke. Maybe. So many maybes, but that was all we could hope on.

I turned away and bent down by the door to pick up my shoes. As I leaned against the door to put them on, Mason approached me.

"There's just one more thing," he said quietly. I finished tying my shoe and stood to my full height, meeting him eye for eye.

"Don't even think about coming back because if my sister hasn't already tried killing you by that time? I'll do it myself," Mason growled.

"Is that a threat?" I chuckled nervously with a raised brow.

A malicious grin spread across the young man's handsome face contorting it into something almost demonic.

"No. That's a promise. Now leave before I become not so understanding and instead kill you right here mercilessly."

I didn't even bother commenting. I merely opened the door and slipped out. Mason quietly shut the door behind me. The click of the lock was all too audible in the deafening silence of the apartment building. I trotted down the stairs and over to my car. I all but fell into the driver's seat as a sudden wave of fear and misery washed over me. I gripped the steering wheel tightly in my hands as I slammed my forehead against it. I slammed it against the steering wheel once more before just resting it upon my folded arms. Hot tears spilled forth from my eyes; my nose began to grow stuffy.

I didn't want to have to leave Aerolynn so soon after having finally gotten her back. I didn't want for her brother to hate me the way he did now. But most of all, I didn't want the darkness to kill his sister, my beloved, by my own hands. A yell of pure agony burst forth from my chest and tore its way out of my esophagus. Things would have just been better had I never gotten my fortune read. Then we wouldn't be in this mess. We should have never taken the case here. We should have never allowed the radio to announce a contest to investigate with us. So many things we should have never done especially me.

I laid my head back against the seat and closed my eyes as a single last thought was brought to the forefront of my mind. Whether it was by my own subconscious or whether it was the work of the darkness inside of me, I wasn't sure.

I wish I had never met Aerolynn.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: This was one of the hardest chapters I think I have ever written because it hit home on a lot of bases for me. Mostly because I imagined having a similar conversation like this one with my own brother that I care very much for. So the things Aerolynn tells her brother in this chapter? Yeah, those mirror the things I would say to my brother in that situation since Mason is based off my own brother. So I apologize if this chapter gets really dramatic or mushy or anything like that. I kinda got lost in my own imagination as to "what would i do if my brother suddenly did this?" I hope you enjoy it all the same. Because writing it certainly took a toll on my emotions, but i'm ok now. So what are you waiting for? Read and review :)**

Chapter 9

I woke up later that day to the bright rays of the afternoon sun shining directly upon my closed eyelids between my bedroom curtains. I brought my hand up to block the sun from beating down on my face as my eyes slowly fluttered open. A large, languid smile spread across my face as I stretched out my limbs under the covers. I let one arm fall beside me in search of Zak, but found only a large empty space. I sat up in bed and looked around the room. The clothes I had taken off him yesterday were gone. That could only mean two things: he was gone or he was merely in the other room. I prayed that it was the latter.

That's when the most wonderful aroma slipped into my room and assaulted my senses. Bacon. I could smell bacon being cooked in the kitchen. A strange sense of relief washed over me knowing that he hadn't left. He had merely gotten up to go fix breakfast. My eyes glanced at my bedside clock. It was nearing 1:30, so I guess I should say Zak was fixing lunch.

Eager to see Zak after our passionate night together (I was trying to forget the part where he tried to kill me), I jumped out of bed and slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top. I dashed to the bathroom and quickly raked my fingers through my hair the best I could without making it look too obvious that I had fixed it before coming out. Satisfied with the way it looked, I made my way out of the bedroom. As soon as I opened the door, a wave of the smell of bacon overwhelmed my nostrils. A smile broke out across my face. I wonder if I had stayed asleep a little longer if he would have brought me breakfast/ lunch in bed. I closed the door behind me and made my way down the hallway to the kitchen. Before I stepped around the corner I braced myself. Even though our night together had been almost perfect, there was still that incident where he lost control and choked me. I hadn't seen any marks around my neck when I had been fixing my hair, but that didn't mean that the moment still hadn't internally scarred us both. The darkness was growing steadily stronger inside of him. I needed to start acting quicker and find a way to help him. I just needed to figure out how.

I wasn't going to worry about that too much right now though. Not with Zak standing in the kitchen cooking food for us. I rounded the corner ready to slip my arms around the waist of the man I loved when I came face to face with another man entirely: my brother. He was half turned toward the counter with a sizzling hot pan in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other. His dark brown eyes met mine for a brief moment before falling to the bacon in the skillet. He slid the bacon out of the pan and onto a piece of bread that had mayonnaise slathered on it. On the other slice of bread was lettuce and tomato. An awkward silence enveloped my brother and I. I prepared myself for the slew of questions I was bound to get, but none ever came. Mason merely put the sandwich together, cut it in half, and turned back to the stove to shut it off. I raked a hand back through my hair and tapped my toes softly on the kitchen floor.

"Good morning, brother," I quietly greeted unsure of what else to say. Where was Zak? Was he in the bathroom maybe? Or was he out getting something? Maybe Nick had called him out to the motel for something? Assuming Nick was still here of course. He had been last I knew.

"Afternoon, you mean," he corrected.

"What?"

"I think you mean to say 'good afternoon, brother' since it is past noon now," he restated placing the skillet in the sink.

"Oh…right…" I chuckled nervously. Why was he not interrogating me? Did he finally come to terms that I was old enough to be with whomever I pleased?

"I made you a BLT. I figured you might be hungry when you got up," he informed me as he turned his back to me once more.

"Um…ok, thanks." I walked over to the counter and picked up one half of the sandwich. I took a small bite of it confused as to why my brother was acting so strange this morning. Had he maybe talked to Zak this morning when he came home? This still begged the question as to where Zak was. The only sound that could be heard in the entire apartment was the soft crunching sound of the bacon being chewed and my own pounding heart. That was when I noticed my clothes folded neatly on the kitchen bar. Mason must have found them lying on the floor when he came home and put them on the bar.

And with the way my brother was acting…something wasn't right. I slowly put the sandwich back on the plate as my heart kicked up speed. It was pounding so hard against my chest I felt like it was going to hammer its way out of my chest.

"Mason…where is Zak?" I asked gently hoping he was just going to tell me Zak had left to go visit Nick or go grab a quick change of clothes. My thoughts were screaming out at him to tell me that. Mason refused to turn and look at me.

"Mason. Please," I begged of him. "Where is Zak? It's ok. I can take whatever answer you may give me. I'm a big girl. I even took a bullet in the chest and survived. Surely I can handle a little thing like this," I nervously chuckled knowing that I was, once again, making a joke out of the being shot situation. I couldn't help it though. I was scared and I didn't know what else to do. Mason wouldn't even look at me.

Finally, Mason gradually faced me, but his dark eyes stayed glued to the floor. I slapped a fake smile onto my face so that I could maybe convince him I was ok with him telling me. I reached out a hand to place on my brother's bicep. That one gentle touch gave me everything I needed to get him to finally lift his gaze to mine. A mixture of sadness, pity, and raw anger was burning within the depths of his near black eyes.

"He's gone, Aero. Left early this morning while you were still sleeping," Mason darkly answered. My smile froze in place at my brother's words.

"What?" I lamely asked wondering if I had heard him correctly.

Mason leaned in close to my face. He licked his lips before speaking.

"Zak. Is. Gone," he repeated slowly and with more enunciation on each word.

"But…but that's not possible," I chuckled uneasily. "He said he loves me…he wouldn't leave me again. Not so soon after we just got back together. I mean…it has only been two weeks for crying out loud." My voice rose higher with fear and doubt with each sentence. Thoughts of betrayal and doubt clouded my mind. He wouldn't leave me again…would he? Not like that. Not in the middle of the night. Not after having confessed our love to one another. Not on my BIRTHDAY of all days. Right?

Mason wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tightly against his chest. I was too stunned to move. I couldn't even dredge up a single tear.

"I'm sorry, Aerolynn. I caught him sneaking out when I had come home. He said he's not the type of guy to settle down with one woman. He comes to places looking for new things and people to explore. You just happened to be one of the many women he 'explored'," Mason growled gritting his teeth together in anger. "He said he figured you were going to be a hard catch when he first met you with you being so stubborn and all. So he had to find a way to make a convincing show out of pretending to love you so he could get into your pants."

"He was just…using me?" I softly inquired. It was hard trying to comprehend everything my brother was telling me. It didn't feel real. Last night had been all but a dream. I had been Cinderella dancing at the ball in a beautiful gown with her prince. Only to wake up to reality this morning knowing there had been no ball or beautiful gown. And there certainly had been no prince. Just dreams and wishful thinking.

"Yeah. It was all just a ruse to get you to sleep with him. He never cared about you. He never loved you. He told me that he wanted to leave while you were still sleeping to make sure there would be no trace of him when he left. He didn't want you to see him leaving otherwise he'd never make a clean getaway to the next location with you biting at his heels," Mason spat still holding me tightly to him. That's when it hit me. A memory of last night slammed to the forefront of my mind.

_"These aren't even in season," I breathed taking the trailing flower stem from him. As I took it from his hands, something dangled from it glistening in the light that illuminated from the electric candle._

_ I laid the object across the palm of my hand to see what it was. My mouth dropped open again when I saw it was a necklace. The pendant was in the shape of a diamond encrusted shell. My brows furrowed in confusion over why he had chosen a shell._

_ He took the necklace from my hands and unclasped it._

_ "Because of its hard casing, the Shell is a protective image - protecting life and also symbolizes the protective quality love sometimes takes. In Roman mythology, Venus, the goddess of love, was said to be created from the foam carried ashore atop a scallop shell. The Hindu goddess Lakshmi was said to also be created from the grit and pearls within the shell. Also in Hinduism the conch shell is symbolic because it awakens the heart of the faithful and calls to those who live with heart-filled love," Zak intelligently explained as he hooked the pendant around my neck. He brushed the hair out of my face and gently cupped my jawline in his hands._

_ "Now….can you tell me what the arbutus I just gave you means?" he asked._

_ I shook my head waiting for him to tell me._

_ "It means," he began. He leaned in closer to me; our lips merely a centimeter apart from each other. "That you're the only one I love."_

Tears formed in my eyes at the memory of those words. There was no way he could have not meant it. I reached up and fingered the pendant that still hung around my neck. He hadn't taken everything with him. He had taken everything except the necklace and the memories he had given to me. Everything my brother had been whispering in my ear slammed into me making me nearly go breathless from it all. I finally understood. Everything Mason was telling me…it didn't make sense. Why would Mason be telling me all of this unless it was just lies made up by him, Zak, or them both in order for me to hate Zak? If Zak had really left for those reasons then Mason wouldn't need to sit there and explain it to me. All he would have had to say was 'Zak left in the middle of the night. I'm so sorry, sis' and hold me in sadness and pity. He wouldn't be gripping me tightly to him like this with anger.

I shoved my brother away and took his face in my hands when I saw his eyes immediately shoot down at the floor.

"Look at me," I demanded of him. His eyes met mine. That's where I saw the truth shining brightly in my brother's eyes. He wasn't mad because Zak had left in the middle of the night. He wasn't even mad at the fact that we had slept together before he'd left. My brother was angry with himself for being forced to lie to me. He was terrified at the thought that I would instead hate him because he was lying to me in order for me to hate Zak. I was the only thing Mason had left in this world and if I were to hate him? He would be crushed. He was frightened at the thought of losing me when all he was really doing was trying to protect me.

"Mason," I whispered as I saw a single tear fall down his cheek. I hadn't even seen him cry as I had lay dying on the cold floor of Luke's pizza shop.

"He left because of the darkness inside of him, didn't he?" I gently inquired of my brother. He nodded.

My brother, sergeant in the army and six feet tall, fell to his knees as tears fell in translucent streaks down his tan face. He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face into my stomach as his large body began to tremble from his contained sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Aero. I never wanted to lie to you, but after having talked to Zak early this morning we both agreed it would be best for you to hate him. I was even dead set in agreement with him. But then…when I saw you this morning…when I saw the happiness fade from your eyes…" My brother held me tighter. "I-I couldn't do it. I couldn't look you in the eyes and lie to you. I know how much you love him a-and I didn't want you to hate me," sobbed into my belly.

"I love you so much, Aerolynn. Y-you're all I have left. If you were to hate me?" His body racked from his tremendous sobs. I could feel his hot tears soaking the bottom of my tank top through to my skin. I closed my eyes to hold back my own tears at seeing my brother on his knees crying so helplessly like a child before me.

I dropped down to my knees as well and gripped his large face between my small, delicate hands. I wiped away a few tears with my thumbs before speaking.

"It's alright, Mason. It's ok," I soothed him.

Mason just shook his head in denial. "I'm sorry, Aerolynn. I had to lie to you. I had to lie to protect you. I just can't see you get hurt again. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt over something I had the power to stop. I died on the inside when I thought we had lost you. A-and I thought that maybe if you hated him…th-then everything would be ok. That you w-wouldn't have to worry about hurting anymore."

"Sssshhh, Mason, it's ok," I repeated trying to quiet his continuous sobs.

"But I didn't want you to end up h-hating me once you discovered I had l-lied to you ab-about Zak and wh-why he'd left," he explained further. His bottom lip trembled more than normal now as he did all he could to fight back the endless tears.

"But I don't want you to hate me, Aero. I just w-want to see you ha-happy. Whether it's w-with Luke, by yourself, or with Z-Zak…." Mason gently took my hands in his and placed a kiss on my fingers. "I j-just want you to be happy. That's all I wish for."

Silent tears fell down my face at my brother's words. There had been no need for him to explain his actions to me. I knew why he had done what he'd done. Yet hearing those same words I had thought coming from my brother…it made things better since I wasn't just assuming his actions. I knew for sure now why he had done what he'd done. Not only that, but he was apologizing. Even though it wasn't needed, I knew my brother would never forgive himself if he didn't apologize for the wrong he felt like he had done.

"I love you, Aerolynn. I'm so sorry," Mason whispered against our hands. "Please…please forgive me," he begged.

I released a pitiful laugh that was a partial sob and threw my arms around my brother to hug him closely to me. "There is nothing to apologize for, Mason. I know you only did what you thought was right. How could I ever hate a brother who is only doing his best to protect his little sister?"

I pulled away from him, but still kept my hands on his shoulders.

"For my entire life you have been there whenever I needed help. You were always there when I felt like no one saw me; when I felt invisible. Even during the times I came home from school and felt like running off somewhere to die, somehow…you always knew. And you would be by my side, holding me, as I cried out all of my fears and frustrations to you. And whenever I had my heart broken by a boy for the first time, but had told no one about it…somehow you knew. And you were there to piece back and mend my aching heart. And when our parents died and I felt like the entire world had come crashing down around us? You stayed strong throughout it all so that you might lend me that same strength to help me get through each day on my own.

"Through every hardship and through every breakdown, you have been there always protecting me. Even when you were overseas and couldn't be by my side, you always sent me a letter letting me know you were ok and would return home soon to see my smiling face. And it was those letters that got me through each day. Even in those letters…I could feel your constant strength protecting me. You are always protecting me and catching me whenever I fall so that I don't hurt myself, but it's time to let me fall, brother. It's time to let me scratch my knee or feel a dull aching in my heart. It's time to let me stand on my own two feet and protect myself. So stop being angry with yourself for doing your best as my brother and trying to protect me from harm," I quietly explained to him, tears running down both our faces.

"Let me take this road alone. Let me stumble and fall. And let _me_ stand back up on my own because we both know you won't always be there to catch me anymore. It's time to let your baby sister grow up and know that no matter what you do…I will always forgive you, my brother. You're all I have left and I couldn't stand the thought of losing my only brother just like you couldn't stand to lose me."

My brother pulled me to him in a strong embrace and cried into my shoulder just as I cried into his. If anyone were to walk in right now, they would see us both crying like babies in each other's arms on the kitchen floor. This was the first time I had ever cried with my brother since he hardly shed many tears throughout his life. He didn't even cry this much at our parents' funerals.

"You have to go after him, Aerolynn. He needs you now more than ever," Mason whispered into my ear with a small sniffle.

I nodded my head and pulled away to stand up on my feet. I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned to head back to my bedroom to change. My brother caught my hand before I could turn.

We stared at each other for what felt like hours when he gently squeezed my hand. "Be careful out there…on your own."

I nodded with a small smile. "Always, brother."

He hesitantly released my hand allowing me to go change. I gave him one last smile before heading back to my room to change.

There was someone I needed to have a nice long chat with.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Approximately 9 hours earlier**

**4:09 A.M.**

******Zak's P.O.V******

I didn't drive very far. After I had left Aerolynn's apartment and scary brother behind, I had stopped by the motel to pack up my things. I had accidentally woken Nick up whilst packing, but thinking back on it…it was probably a good thing that he had woken up as I recalled our conversation.

_"So, you're going to leave her? Just like that?" my best friend hissed quietly so as not to wake Aaron who was still dead to the world._

_ "What other choice do I have, Nick?" I snapped throwing a pair of pants into my suitcase._

_ "How about trying to talk it out with her? That seems like a good choice to me."_

_ I vehemently shook my head at his idea. "You know I can't do that. I can't be around her anymore, Nick."_

_ "Why, Zak, why? You love her, man. I know you do," Nick pleaded._

_ "I just can't, Nick," I sighed in frustration. It wasn't like Nick to constantly pick at something like this. He usually just went along with whatever I told him._

_ "Don't be such a pussy, Zak!"_

_ "I almost killed her, alright?!" I growled, turning on him. Nick stumbled back a couple of steps at the venom laced throughout my tone._

_ "You what?" he quietly inquired not sure what to make of my confession._

_ I raked my hand down my face and rubbed the back of my neck._

_ "I-I almost killed her man. Her fragile neck fit so perfectly in my hands and I could feel her throat slowly being crushed under my grip. A-and the most horrifying part was…I enjoyed it." I gripped my friend's shoulders tightly. "I was enjoying it, Nick. How twisted is THAT? I could feel my blood racing through my veins with adrenaline and excitement at the thought of taking her life. How…how could I even THINK like that?" I quietly cried out holding back my sob as the memory of what I had almost done came rushing to the forefront of my mind._

_ Nick grasped my upper biceps in his hands and locked those dark eyes with mine._

_ "It wasn't you doing that, Zak. You have to remember that. You weren't feeling the excitement…your demon was. YOU weren't thinking of killing her…IT was. You HAVE to remember that," Nick calmly explained._

_ "I know. I know," I sighed releasing the tight grip I had on my friend's shoulders. His arms fell back down to his side as well. "But we both know there is no talking to Aerolynn about this. The more I am around her while I have little control over this thing; the more likely I am to kill her. And unlike last time—"_

_ "There may be no stopping you," Nick finished for me._

_ I nodded. "Yeah. It was hard enough trying to gain back this amount of control. My fingers are itching to close around her neck again. My mouth watering at the thought of tasting her metallic blood on my tongue…"_

_ I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I did my best to shove those thoughts aside. Nick was right. These kind of thoughts weren't mine. They belonged to something else entirely._

_ "Zak…"_

_ "Nick," I interrupted snapping my eyes open. "You have to promise me something. Promise me…that you will make sure she doesn't come looking for me. Make sure…she lives a happy life with Luke or someone else. Just…watch over her for me. Ok?"_

_ Nick nodded. "I promise, man. I'll do the very best I can. I mean, you know how stubborn she can get sometimes."_

_ I cracked a small smile. "Yeah, I know, but if her brother does his job whenever she wakes up later today….then she'll already hate me enough to not even want to bother._

_ Nick nodded and helped me finish packing my things. As I tossed the last suitcase in the trunk of the car, I turned around to face Nick. His hands were shoved deep into the pocket of his pants that he had thrown on before coming outside with me. His gaze was fixated on the gravel beneath his bare feet as his big toe rolled a small rock around. I slammed the trunk shut and fingered my keys._

_ "Well…I guess this is goodbye. For now," I quickly tacked on._

_ "When do you think you will be back?" He asked with his gaze still fixed on the rock he was playing with._

_ I lifted my broad shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know, man. I honestly don't know. I hope it falls into the category of being sooner rather than later though, dude."_

_ Nick's dark eyes lifted from the gravel to clash with my own stormy blue eyes._

_ "Come back a better man, Zak, alright? Because there is no way Aerolynn is settling down with Luke. Not when it's obvious she only has eyes for you and you for her."_

_ I bit the inside of my cheek and merely nodded. That was something I wouldn't be able to promise, but would do my best at trying to accomplish._

_ I clapped a hand on my best friend's shoulder and gently squeezed it._

_ "Later, bro," I quietly said._

_ "Yeah. Later," he mumbled._

_ I watched him watch me as I backed out of the driveway with no particular destination in mind. I kept sight of the motel sign glowing in the night up until the point where it became just a small lit dot in my rearview mirror and then it was nothing but darkness around me._

I had stopped at a rest area to maybe sleep off some of this tiredness I was feeling. But every time I shut my eyes, I saw her mouth open in a silent scream; her eyes burning with fear. Each time I snapped my eyes open clutching my hand to my chest where I could still feel the deep sated ache at having to leave her the way I did, but I had no other choice.

I laid my head back against the headrest of the seat and released a long, tired sigh.

"Please, Nick…" I whispered into the silent car. "Keep her safe."

**Present time of 1:53 P.M.**

~~~~~~Aerolynn's P.O.V~~~~~~

I drove up into the gravel parking lot of the motel relieved to see the GAC van still parked in front of their rented room. I cut the engine and got out. I glanced around the parking lot saddened to see that Zak's car wasn't here. I had been hoping he would return back here to catch up on some sleep and I might be able to give him a good piece of my mind. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The gravel crunched beneath my combat boots as I walked up to motel room number six. I took a deep breath and wrapped my knuckles against the door. At first there was no answer even though I had waited a few minutes. Were they still asleep? It was possible. They were men after all that usually were active during the night and asleep during the day. I tried again. Only I pounded my fist against the door this time.

Finally, the door swung open to a sleepy Aaron.

"Aero?" he yawned covering his mouth with a large hand.

"Is Nick here? I need to speak with him. It's urgent," I demanded trying to peek around Aaron to see if I could spot Nick.

"Um, yeah, but he's taking a shower right now. You can come in and wait on him though. He should be about finished," Aaron informed me stepping to the side allowing me access into the room.

I nodded my thanks and stepped inside the poorly decorated motel room. Not much had changed since I was last here with Luke. Although that now seemed like an eternity ago. Which I guess since it had been a little over four months…it wasn't too surprising. The room seemed different somehow though. It seemed….emptier. It wasn't just because Zak himself was gone, but…all of his stuff was gone as well. So he HAD been here. I had just been too late.

"Make yourself at home," Aaron suggested waving a hand over at the small round table in the corner of the room.

"No, I'm fine," I assured him.

Just then the bathroom door opened to reveal Nick standing amongst a cloud of steam. He stopped in the doorway at seeing me standing in the middle of the room. His eyes flicked over to Aaron, who had went back to laying down, before focusing back on me.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I decided to wear pants, then," Nick joked making his way over to the bed where a black hooded shirt rested. He slipped it on over his head before facing me.

"You know why I'm here," I quietly stated making sure my honey brown eyes never left Nick's own dark eyes.

"Yeah, I do," he sighed plopping down on the end of the bed. "Hey, Aaron?"

"Hmmm?" Aaron groaned rolling over in bed to face Nick.

"Can you go off and do something for a while? I need to talk with Aerolynn about some things," he quietly insisted of his friend.

Aaron's eyes went back and forth between Nick and I before realization slowly dawned on him. He slipped a shirt on and stepped into a pair of pants lying beside his bed.

"Sure thing, bro," he nodded grabbing the keys to the van. He gave me a grave look before leaving the motel room.

My gaze fixated back onto Nick whose dark eyes were staring down at the floor.

"Nick…I need to know. Where is he?" I quietly pleaded of the man.

"That…I can't answer because I don't know. He never told me when he stopped by to pack up his things."

"And around what time was that?"

"A little after four in the morning, I think?"

I slowly nodded. We had gone to bed a little before three after we had made love that second time which meant he had left shortly before an hour had passed by. I must have been out to not have noticed the bed shift beneath his weight as he got up.

"There's one more thing I need to know and I think only you can provide me with the answer."

Nick's eyes grew solemn at my words. He knew exactly what it was I needed to know.

"You want to know what the darkness inside of him is," he answered.

I nodded. "I want to know what it is, where it came from, when it started…anything that might help me save Zak. Please, Nick," I begged. "I need to save him. He's your best friend. Neither of us wants to lose him to whatever he has living inside him be it a demon, a darkness, a darker half….I don't care. I just want whatever it is OUT so he can go back to being the Zak that we both love and remember."

Nick released a sigh of defeat and patted the bed next to him. I eagerly plopped myself beside him and swept my eyes over his face.

"The change in him first started that night during our very first lockdown at Bobby Mackey's Music World…"


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Do you remember when we first investigated Bobby Mackey's Music World?" Nick asked his eyes locked on with mine.

I slowly nodded as the memory of watching their first episode flooded my mind. That had been when Zak got those three nasty scratch marks down along his spine because he had pushed the demonic entity too far.

"So then you must remember what happened in that episode to Zak?" Nick assumed.

"Yeah. Wasn't that the series premiere of Ghost Adventures? Where Zak got scratched really bad on his back?" I questioned hesitantly hoping I was thinking of the right episode. They had done investigations at Bobby Mackey's a few times. It was just a matter of sorting out which one he was talking about.

Nick nodded in agreement. "That's the exact one. I think that is when everything started."

I slightly squinted my eyes in curiosity. "Oh? How so?"

"Well, when Zak got scratched, do you not remember how he reported feeling dizzy and this weird sensation inside of him? Not only that, but we also captured some glowing anomalies surrounding Zak as well," Nick reminded.

"Right, right, I remember now. So you think those scratches on his back is what started everything?"

"Well, think about it this way: three scratches are assumed to be scratches of a demonic entity. We were also down in the basement of Bobby Mackey's which is considered to be?"

"Hell's Gate…" I whispered as I started piecing it together.

"Exactly and after Zak was scratched…I don't know, he started acting differently. Not to the point where everyone would notice, but after being friends with him for as long as I had? You tend to take notice more than most other people."

****************************************************************************************  
~~~~~~Nick's P.O.V~~~~~~

"How was he changing?" she asked. Curiosity and genuine concern lit up her honey brown eyes. She honestly cared for my best friend and was willing to do anything it took to save him. That set my heart at ease.

"Just the little things he did and said. Like I said, to an outsider's eyes it wouldn't seem like much, but to someone like me? It was evident. Especially about a week after we had finished the lockdown," I sighed.

Aerolynn scooted closer and placed a soothing hand on my arm.

"Please. Tell me EVERYTHING. Even the little things that you think wouldn't matter because it may be those little things that help me in the end."

I stared into her lightly colored eyes for a few moments more before slowly nodding my head in agreement.

"Well, we were back at the hotel reviewing the evidence and Zak was doing his commentary…"

_**4 years ago**_

_ "Hey, Zak, come check this out. You can hear this humming sound right here. I think this should be put in the final cut for the episode," I said excitedly turning in my chair to face Zak. Zak was standing by the hotel window looking out into the night. Aaron was in the next room watching the video footage in his own room. Zak and I had decided to share a room and cut down on cost as much as possible since this was our very first lockdown for the new series we were putting together on Travel Channel._

_ "Zak?" I asked standing up from the desk chair to walk over to my best friend. I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder making him jump and twist my wrist around and back. The bones in my wrist bent at an awkward, tight angle threatening to break._

_ "Dude, call down, man! It's just me! Holy fucking shit," I frantically reminded him. Zak blinked a few times before releasing the iron grip he had on my wrist._

_ "Sorry, dude. Just…don't do that when I'm lost in my own thoughts," he warned, his eyes returning to stare out the window._

_ "You okay, man? You've been sorta out of it lately since we went to Bobby Mackey's," I cautiously replied, my eyes scanning his face._

_ "I'm fine. It's just…I don't man. You'll think I'm crazy," he sighed raking a hand back through his short cropped, dark hair._

_ "Dude. I was attacked in the bathroom by a garbage can at Bobby Mackey's earlier this week. Somehow, whatever you have to say? I don't think it can be much crazier than that," I chuckled hoping to encourage him to tell me._

_ "It's just…it's my back. Those scratches…they've barely faded," he confessed._

_ "Well, they were some pretty nasty scratches, bro," I reminded him._

_ "I know, but it's been almost a week. Surely they would have healed more than they have?"_

_ I shrugged not really knowing how to answer that._

_ "And after I took a shower earlier…they looked like they had gotten…deeper. And I've been getting these strange…urges," he quietly admitted._

_ I quirked a dark brow in curiosity. "What's up with you, Zak? What did you feel that night at Bobby Mackey's?"_

_ Zak's blue-gray gaze lifted from off the floor to penetrate deep within my stare. "I felt something ripping up my insides, Nick. It penetrated its way into my soul and left a piece of itself behind inside of me. At night…I can feel it moving around. Like some sort of…alien. And it gives me these strange urges. It whispers horrible things inside my head. I…I don't know what to do, Nick. I've never ran into something like this before," he stammered, his massive body shaking from fear._

_ Zak fell to his knees, his large arms wrapping around his waist as he doubled over trying to contain the sobs that threatened to burst forth. I had never seen my friend this scared before. I knew we shouldn't have gone to Bobby Mackey's. I knew something bad was going to happen. I just didn't think it was going to be something as awful as this. And seeing him there on the ground made me grow uncomfortable. I didn't know how to comfort him and that made me feel like a horrible friend._

_ So all I did was stand there watching him cry out his frustrations and fears in the hopes that whatever Zak was going through would vanish._

_ Little did I know at the time…things would only get worse._

I watched the emotions flicker across Aerolynn's face as I finished recalling my memory to her of the first encounter I had with Zak and his darkness. Her face had gone from being shocked to intrigue to sad. And now her face showed absolutely no emotion on the matter. In fact, she almost appeared to be thinking hard on something.

"So, then," she began her brows pulled together as she continued to think through her thoughts. "That must mean those scratches…opened him up to the darkness."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, think about it. He obviously didn't get possessed by any sort of entity or demon. He was just merely scratched. So, obviously the intent of the demon was not to possess him, but to open him up TO possession," she explained.

"I don't think I am quite following you on this one just yet," I sheepishly answered.

Aerolynn smiled and gave me a reassuring pat on my arm. "It's ok. I'll explain it the best I can with the way my mind works, ok?"

I nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Ok, so, Zak has a bad habit of always pissing off the wrong spirits. We all know this to be true. That day during your first lockdown, he just happened to piss off a very BIG, very BAD spirit. Well, demon. Obviously, the demon didn't want to possess him. No. It wanted to warn him; to curse him. It wanted to put a mark on his soul as a constant reminder of the wrong he had done that day. So the demon marked him, in others words, scratched him. Only, it wasn't just a surface scratch. It's like Zak had told you: it penetrated its way into his soul and left a piece of itself behind. Those claws aren't just for show to warn you a bit with a few scratches. That demon had much darker intentions in mind. Those scratches it left on Zak's back made basically an opening for other evil entities or demons to crawl inside him and, well, possess him," she tried to explain in fuller detail.

"So, you are saying the reason why those scratches on his back weren't healing was because the small sliver of darkness the demon left inside of Zak KEPT those scratches from healing?" I inquired finally beginning to understand her logic.

She nodded; a large grin on her face. "Exactly! It was keeping those wounds open for as long as possible so that more darkness could flow inside of Zak, consume his soul, and basically kill him from the inside out. And because of the line of work you guys do, it wouldn't take long for that darkness inside of Zak to grow."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck as another scene played inside my head.

"Yeah, well, that's not even the half of it," I told her.

She shook her head. "Yeah, I didn't think it was. There was no way that just those three scratch marks could be the entire cause of what has become of Zak."

"Oh no. Those scratches…were just the beginning."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

******Nick's P.O.V******

"Those scratches on his back were just the beginning. Over the next year, things just steadily progressed," I told her as I played with the wedding band around my finger. I was mulling over what exactly I should tell her next that had a big impact on Zak's behavior and just his overall personality.

"What happened next, Nick?" she asked. Worry was interlaced throughout her voice as she gazed at me through pleading eyes.

I released a heavy sigh and fell back onto the bed. "I think it grew worse when he got possessed during our lockdown at Poveglia Island near Venice, Italy."

I closed my eyes remembering that specific investigation where Zak had claimed to have blacked out during the time he was cursing at Aaron and snapping at every little thing. I don't think I had ever seen him so completely overtaken before.

"You're talking about his possession," Aerolynn quietly indicated.

"Yeah, but that's not the worst of it."

_**3 years ago**_

_**Venice, Italy**_

_ "Hey, Zak, how about we take a break and enjoy the sights of Italy, huh?" I suggested as Zak, Aaron, and I sat in our cozy hotel room._

_ Zak shook his head. "We don't have time to take a break, Nick," he spat. "We have work to do."_

_ "Yeah, I know, dude. But it's nice to take a break every now and again, ya know? Especially after what happened to you last night during the lockdown."_

_ "I said I'm alright, OKAY? Jesus fucking Christ, Nick. Get off my back. You're not my goddamn mother," Zak growled as he flung himself up off the bed where he had been sitting._

_ Aaron, who was sitting in a chair, and I, who was standing by the door, exchanged glances with one another. Why was Zak bursting out like this? It didn't make a lick of sense._

_ "Alright, dude," I chuckled raising my hands up to chest level in surrender._

_ "Calm down, bro," Aaron tacked on._

_ "I AM CALM!" Zak yelled over at Aaron; his lips curled into a sneer._

_ "Ok, bro. Ok," Aaron mumbled. "I'm just gonna go grab a bite to eat. You guys want anything?"_

_ "No," Zak snapped._

_ Aaron's eyes slid over to me. I shook my head and watched as our equipment tech walked out the door, quietly clicking it shut behind him. I rounded on Zak, anger blazing in my eyes._

_ "What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? We're just trying to fucking help you!" I yelled at him._

_ Zak's blue-gray eyes narrowed into dark slits as he strode two steps toward me; our noses centimeters apart from one another. When Zak was angry and got up in your face? He was a pretty intimidating man and not only because of his stature and size._

_ But I wasn't going to back down just because he was PMSing at the moment._

_ "Let's get this straight, alright? I don't need help from ANY of you. I can handle matters on my OWN," Zak quietly warned._

_ "Is that so? If you're such a hot shot then why weren't you able to do this show all on your OWN, huh? Who's the one that came to me for help because we needed another cameraman? So if you're such a badass then wh—"_

_ The rest of my sentence was cut off as Zak's hand clenched tightly around my neck cutting off my airway. I dug my fingers into his hands in an attempt to loosen his iron hold, but his fingers only wrapped tighter around my neck as he slowly picked me up off the ground. He held me against the wall high above his head. Zak may be a big guy with decently sized muscles, but there was no way he could pick me up with one hand and hold me comfortably over his head the way he was. He didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat either. No, this thing that was choking me was not Zak…it was something else entirely._

_ "Don't mock me." Although the words came from Zak's mouth and had Zak's voice, there was something darker….something deeper that was woven within his voice._

_ "You need help, Zak," I wheezed trying to draw in as much air as possible, but his tight grip on my esophagus made it nearly impossible to gather air._

_ Zak tilted his head to the side as he watched me through the eyes of a predator._

_ "You're…not…well," I huffed. My vision began to tunnel as less and less oxygen flowed through my lungs._

_ A slow, sadistic smile spread across Zak's face. I blinked a few times wondering if the lack of oxygen to my brain was causing me to see his teeth grow sharp and his eyes burn red from deep within. My arms felt heavy making the attempts to free myself become futile. My hands fell to my sides; my vision began growing black._

_ "Zak…" I weakly cried out._

_ My body crumpled to the floor as air swept into my lungs at an alarmingly fast rate causing me to cough and gasp at the sudden onslaught. I gingerly grabbed at my throat as the burning sensation began to recede and my entire body thanked me for the oxygen it was receiving once more. I glanced up at my best friend who was staring down at his hands through terrified eyes._

_ "Zak," I coughed. "We need to get you to a priest. Someone who can maybe exorcise whatever that is out of you."_

_ A flash of anger went across his eyes before quickly fading into horror._

_ "I can't, Nick," he whispered. "Don't you understand? If I do that then they may never allow me to film another episode! Ghost hunting is my dream; my passion. Ghost Adventures is my life!"_

_ "You almost killed me, Zak!" I reminded him._

_ Zak's eyes widened in alarm at my sudden scream of anger. Those blue-gray eyes lowered in sadness._

_ "I can control it. I promise. I'll learn to control it," Zak assured me._

_ "It needs exorcised!" I yelled._

_ "No! If you try to take me to a priest it will only try to kill you again! Don't you understand? If anyone tries to get in the way, it'll just kill them! It doesn't care who it is. I know I can control it. I know I can," Zak pleaded. "Just let me try."_

_ "This is a bad idea, Zak," I sighed rubbing my neck as I warily stood up from the ground. My legs wobbled beneath my weight for a second before I regained my strength and balance._

_ "It's the only choice we have if no one is to get hurt," he warned._

_ "Is there a demon living inside of you right now?"_

_ "I…I don't know. It's not as strong as a demon. That thing that possessed me last night on Poveglia Island…I could feel its power coursing through me as it overtook my body. But this? This feels like…a shadow of its powers. Like…like when it exited my body it left its shadow behind. It left just a minor portion of itself and its power deep inside me."_

_ "But why you?" I asked with concern. I had been possessed not just a few short months ago in Savannah, Georgia down at the Moon River Brewing Company and I wasn't feeling anything that Zak was._

_ Zak's eyes met mine; fear shone brightly in his eyes although his expression was completely blank. "I don't know. I honestly…don't know."_

_ I approached my friend and clapped a hand on his shoulder in comfort._

_ "We'll make it through this, Zak. We always do," I smiled over at him. A sad smile graced his lips for a few seconds before falling back into a grimace._

_ Yeah…I didn't believe my words either._

"After that night things went as smoothly as they could. Zak, over time, did as he promised. He learned to control whatever it was inside him. Occasionally he would get a bit angrier than usual, but would realize it soon enough that he'd get everything back under control. Of course that was before we stopped at that psychic's shop and dredged up everything he had tried so hard to forget," I sighed cursing myself at my and Aaron's insistence on going into that place.

"What do you mean?" Aerolynn asked. She had laid down beside me, propped up on her elbow, as I had recalled my memory to her.

"Well, Zak had kept everything under control for so long that eventually he forgot about it. It hardly reared its ugly head and so we all thought that maybe he had found a way to make it disappear. So then when he got his fortune read at the shop just a couple towns over, the psychic reminded him of the darkness locked away deep inside him. I think that is what made it start stirring up trouble again. Not only that, but the psychic prophesized he would meet a woman who would save him, but that he would lose her if he let her go."

Aerolynn's eyes widened as my words sunk in.

"I'm that woman, aren't I? Because after Zak left…and shortly after he returned…he lost me."

I nodded. "The thing is…I think you survived the attack because not only does someone really love you upstairs, but, in a way, I think it was because he came back before he could lose you. I don't think you would have survived if Zak had stayed away much longer," I answered honestly.

"I…I don't know. I did have help getting back to him though," she sighed with a ghost of a smile on her face.

I arched a dark brow. "Oh? A family member helped you, maybe? Or a friend?"

"Mary. Mary helped me get back to Zak," she quietly confessed.

"That little girl who we made a new grave for?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. "Yeah."

"But anyways," she continued switching topics. "I think I understand now about where and what his darkness is. Or better called a demon's shadow."

"Please, do explain," I chuckled.

"Well, that wasn't the first time Zak got possessed right? Wasn't another time he got possessed back in Preston Castle?"

I closed my eyes thinking back through all the places we had been trying to draw up a mental image of Preston Castle. That's when it hit me. Zak hadn't been acting like himself and had just wandered off. When we found him, he had been sitting in that room where we had placed the flowers for that woman.

"Yeah, it was, but I don't think whatever possessed him was necessarily evil," I informed her.

"Well, no, but I didn't say it was. But any sort of possession isn't going to help the sliver of darkness inside of him. That just means it will be easier for demons and evil entities to find a way inside him," she explained.

"Ah, ok. Continue then."

"Throughout the year, each time he was possessed, scratched, or just…feeling strange, I think that was adding to the darkness. Making it grow stronger. This meant that it steadily gained power and consumed his soul at a faster rate. Then enter the catalyst."

"Catalyst? So you're saying the possession at Poveglia sped up the process at which the darkness consumed him?" I questioned.

"Mmm, yeah. Something like that," she giggled. "When he got possessed in Poveglia, that demon was apparently stronger than the one that just left scratches on his soul and back. It was able to completely take over him and cause him to black out and forget everything he had done or said while possessed."

"Ok, so then why did it leave Zak's body if it was able to possess him so easily?"

"I think you just answered your own question," she smiled. "It was because Zak had opened himself up to being possessed which made him such an easy target for the demon. Of course with the help from the previous demon back in Bobby Mackey's, it just kind of made Zak into its marionette doll for a short while before getting bored. I don't think it left though without first noticing those scratches on his soul. When the demon saw those, it grew angry. Possessive almost. So it ripped a piece of itself off in Zak to act as an accelerant to the darkness that was already feeding on him."

"And each time Zak lost control and let the darkness overtake him, it grew stronger and consumed away more of his soul," I breathed in sudden understanding.

"You're getting it!" She said with excitement. "And when he learned to control it, it no longer had power over him so it couldn't consume him at such a quick rate. Instead it had to gnaw at the outer edges of his soul."

"But then when he met you, the prophesized savior of his cursed soul, it grew irritable and thrashed around."

"And it made him lose control all over again, yes," she agreed. "And when he started losing control again…"

"It began feasting on his soul like a beast that had been starved for centuries being taunted by its own food," I exhaled as everything she said just clicked into place inside my head.

She nodded with a wide smile happy to see that I understood her logic.

"There's just one more question I have though," I informed her. Our gazes locked and I saw her smile die as she realized what my question might be.

"Why are YOU the only one who can save him? Why can it not be me or Aaron or someone else? Why just you? And why was it only you that could save Mary's soul that was becoming plagued by a darkness dwelling inside her? Why…you?" I inquired realizing I probably sounded like the Spanish Inquisition right now. I couldn't help it though. I was just frustrated as to why it could only be her that saved my best friend from eternal damnation.

Aerolynn sighed and sat up beside me. She drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin upon her knees.

"I don't really know how to answer that one, Nick. I myself don't even completely understand why it can only be me. I just know I've been bombarded by spirits since I was little. They always asked of me the same thing: save me from this darkness. Save my soul. Only you can release me from this damnation." She shook her head.

"It's one reason I was glad to live here because there weren't very many spirits around to haunt me. And as I grew older, I did my very best to ignore them so that they would just leave me alone."

"Why didn't you try to help them?" I asked sitting up beside her. "You helped Mary."

"That's because I COULD help her. Most of the others…I wasn't able to help. There were usually things involved that I couldn't perform or just couldn't dredge up enough courage to do. So I found it best if I just ignored them. Over time…they disappeared. They turned their backs to me and ignored me as well. I was able to live a peaceful life." A sad smile broke out across her face. "Well, up until the moment I met Zak."

"There is no living a peaceful life after meeting that man," I joked nudging her shoulder with mine.

"Isn't that the truth," she softly chuckled. "But yeah. Even I don't fully understand why it has to be me."

"Well, in any case, I hope that you decide this is one soul you can save," I quietly replied.

Aerolynn's eyes clashed with mine; her eyes grew dark as a fierce determination burned deep within their depths.

"No matter how long it takes; no matter how far I must travel…I WILL get Zak back to us and his soul WILL be saved."

**A/N: Hello, my lovelies! I really hope that after having read chapter 11 and 12, this answers A LOT of questions you may have had about what was going on with Zak ^_^ And if you still have a few more questions then PLEASE don't hesitate to ask me because I want to make sure that NO ONE is confused as to what is going on with him. And I will do my very best to answer any of your questions, but I sincerely hope that these couple of chapters quenched the majority of your bewilderment about him :D**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

******Zak's P.O.V******

I sat in my car, eyes closed, as I wondered what Aerolynn was doing at this exact moment. I peeked open an eye to see what time it was. The dashboard read 4:03. Surely she would be awake by now. I glanced down at my phone that was clutched tightly in my hand. I lit up the screen. No calls. No messages. Nothing. Of course, I didn't expect Aaron or Nick to try and call. Since Nick had probably told Aaron I had left and needed to be alone for a while, but to have nothing from Aerolynn? Had Mason been right?

I sighed. Of course he was right. He knew his sister better than I did. Aerolynn wasn't the type to go batshit crazy and hound me with call after call after call. Especially if her brother had done his job and she now hated me. Somewhere deep in the back of my mind though I still wanted to receive a pissed off text from her. Just so I knew she was ok. So I could tell myself that she despised me for what I had done.

_Forget her_, my brain told me.

_Remember her_, my heart argued.

I was waging a war inside myself over what I needed to do. Unfortunately, it wasn't my brain or my heart that held the reins anymore. It was the monster feeding upon my dwindling soul. Tears streamed silently down my face and made dark spots on my jeans. Why did I have to leave Aerolynn? Surely we could have talked about things and she could have discovered a way to save me? We could still be together right now.

I smashed my face against the steering wheel causing the horn to sound off into the silence for a split second. _Get real, Zak,_ I mentally sighed to myself. I had left her for good reasons. I had lost total control while being around her so much. I had completely forgotten about the thing dwelling deep within me and it had taken its opportunity to strike at her. It wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who stood in its way of claiming my soul.

I punched the dashboard causing pain to reverberate up my arm. I slammed my fist once more into dashboard causing my GPS screen to crack; blood ran in small rivers down my fingers like an intricate web of ruby. I slid out of the car and slammed the door shut behind me. I dropped to my hands and knees in the dust and sand as the hot tears dripped from my eyes. I could feel the darkness stirring; it wanted control of me again. I slammed a mental wall around my mind and fought back as hard as I could as the darkness lashed out inside of me.

My blood turned into fire as it coursed throughout my veins; my body trembled as a war raged within myself. It was a battle of survival of the fittest. Who was strong enough to stay and who was the weaker that must back down and obey? I would NOT be the weaker this time. Never again. I fell onto my side on the ground as I felt a horrible ripping sensation inside my body. I knew what that was. It was tearing at my soul; shredding it into tiny pieces.

I rolled over as my back arched off the ground making a scream work its way from my lungs to tear out of my esophagus. I gripped my head tightly between my hands as I tried to ride the wave of pain. I clenched my teeth together, locking my jaw in place, as I fought back with everything I had mentally, physically, and spiritually. Its laughter was all too audible inside my head as I struggled to gain control.

"Why?!" I yelled out to the empty air. "She's not even HERE!" Even I could hear the deep, demonic sound of my voice as I cried out. I gave one final push at my will causing the darkness to recede back into the dark hole it had made for itself inside me.

My back slammed down onto the ground causing me to go breathless. A dull pain throbbed through my skull from where I had been gripping it so tightly between my hands. I went to sit up, but my vision began to swim causing me to fall back onto the ground.

I glanced over to my right at the faintest sound of footsteps. Had she found me? That sure hadn't taken her long. Then again I suppose I didn't find the best of hiding spots like I told myself I was going to do, but how could I? I couldn't stand being away from her. I had to stay nearby. It's why I chose the place that I did because I knew she would have to come here for sure eventually. It was her place. The place she always ran off to in order to think or escape reality.

The figure bent down; a pair of large hazel colored eyes bore into mine. This wasn't Aerolynn….Aerolynn's eyes were a rich honey brown. That's when the dark curls fell to frame the delicate, round face.

"Don't worry, Zak. She'll save you before time runs out," she whispered with assurance.

"Mary?"

That's when I blacked out.

****************************************************************************************

~~~~~~Aerolynn's P.O.V~~~~~~

I left the motel room shortly after four. Nick and I had talked for a little bit longer on where Zak may have headed. Nick thinks Zak may have returned to a place that was familiar to him like home or somewhere close to it. I thought something else entirely. My thoughts were he had stayed close by. Zak may have left to 'protect' me from whatever it was he was battling with, but he would still have that sense of needing to stick close to watch over me. To make sure I wouldn't harm myself.

I sat in the car mulling over some possibilities of where he may have gone. It was very likely Zak hadn't necessarily stayed in Sunfire Falls, but he could have headed to the next town over. Possibly even as far as two towns over. Point is he wouldn't have made it far. Not with a demon's shadow basically shredding his soul apart in the process. I started the car and began backing out of the parking lot still lost in thought.

If Nick didn't even know where Zak was, then how was I supposed to find him? I didn't have the time or the luxury to just run all over this town and the next looking for him. Not when he had a car of his own and could easily be changing locations during the time I am searching for him. Gah! Why couldn't that man have, like, left a note or SOMETHING? I mean seriously? To just up and disappear like he did? Not cool. Definitely not cool. It made me want to strangle him as soon as I did find him. At the same time I'd want to kiss him senseless after having found him. I just hope he would be ok until I could find him.

"Men," I sighed in exasperation.

"Aero!"

The sudden voice caused me to jerk the steering wheel to the left nearly hitting an oncoming car that was blaring its horn at me. I swerved back onto my side of the road before quickly pulling off onto the shoulder and slamming the car into park.

"Are you frigging INSANE?" I yelled at Mary as she stared up at me from the passenger seat. "Don't EVER pop in and shout my name like that while I'm DRIVING! Unless you want there to be TWO spirits sitting here!"

Mary gave me a sheepish grin. "Sorry. You just seemed really lost in thought."

"Which is MORE reason to not randomly shout my name like that while I'm driving," I grumbled raking a hand down my face. That's when it hit me. Mary was here. Mary could tell me where Zak was.

"Mary, where's—"

"First….go to the cemetery. There are some things you need to know," she demanded.

"But I—"

"NOW," she interrupted.

"Fine," I mumbled putting the car back into drive and pulling off the side of the road. I took a sharp left turn down a small country road and made my way towards the cemetery.

We drove on in silence; Mary watched the trees begin to fade as we made it further out into the country towards the small cemetery where her body was buried. I pulled into the small gravel driveway and cut the engine. I stood up from the car making my way over to Mary's grave since I assumed that was where she wanted to talk.

We sat down on a stone bench near her new headstone waiting in awkward silence for one of us to speak.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" I quietly asked sliding my gaze over to her.

"Aerolynn…do you know why so many spirits find you to be the savior of their souls?" Mary softly inquired.

"No…" I answered with hesitancy unsure if I wanted to know.

Those large eyes lifted up to bore into mine. It was then that I suddenly noticed that her eyes were a swirl of green, blue, and brown. Not exactly hazel, but something entirely unique only to her.

"Do you want to know why spirits deem you the Savior of Souls?" Mary asked of me, the expression on her face completely serious.

"I have a name among spirits?" I chuckled nervously.

Mary nodded. "Just remember to keep an open mind with what I am about to tell you. I will answer any questions you have, the ones that I CAN answer, but I won't be able to answer all of them."

"Mary….you're scaring me."

"God felt it was time for his child to know the truth since you have such a big task ahead of you."

"Mary…tell me. Why do spirits think I am destined to save their souls?"

Mary sighed and looked away. A soft breeze cooled the thin sheen of sweat that had begun to perspire on my hands. Dark strands of hair blew across my face and tangled around my neck. Mary's hair didn't move at all. She could no longer feel the soft wind blow across her skin. She didn't know anymore what it was like to have her hair whipped around her face. My heart filled with sadness at the thought that she could no longer enjoy those little things.

Those uniquely colored hazel eyes met mine with a fierce resolve.

"Aerolynn…you are an angel of God."


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I couldn't help what came next out of my mouth. It just sounded so completely insane. Laughter bubbled up inside me and slipped from between my lips until I could feel my sides beginning to hurt from the excessive laughter. An angel of God? There was no way that could even be remotely true…right? If I were an angel of God…wouldn't I have known? Wouldn't I have pearly white wings and have otherworldly powers?

My laughter slowly began to fade as a thought struck me. Why would a demon inside of Zak hate me so much…if I WASN'T an angel? And if I didn't have some sort of otherworldly powers…then why would it have to come down to me, a nobody, to have to take on such a large task?

"Are you finished?" Mary sighed irritably as she glared at me through narrowed eyes.

I abruptly cut off the rest of my laughter and nodded. There was something scary about Mary when she wore that kind of look. I may have saved her from the darkness, but she had definitely kept a few of her dark traits.

"Good. I told you to stay open minded about this," she reminded me.

"I know you did, but seriously? What person in their right mind would hear that and just be completely ok with it and roll right along like their entire world hadn't just been flipped?" I huffed.

"So you mean to tell me that you can accept everything that is going on with Zak and his little "darkness", but you can't accept the fact that you're an angel just as easily?" Mary inquired with a raised brow.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat on the stone bench as Mary watched me under scrutinizing eyes.

"Well…that's…different…"

"How so?"

"Because it's not ME that is being told my life can no longer be the same!"

"How did you expect to save him, Aerolynn? By hoping that his darkness would just up and disappear all because of your love for him?" Mary hissed.

My eyes went wide with shock; I jerked back like I had been slapped. The only other time I had seen Mary act this hateful to me was when her humanity had slowly been dying inside of her.

"Mary…no…I was just—"

"Look, Aerolynn, do you want to save Zak or not?" she finally asked; her eyes quickly darted away after she saw the shock in mine.

"Of course I do," I softly answered.

"Then just…just listen to me ok? I know you have a lot of questions about what I just told you and I am going to do my best to answer those questions, but listen to me first."

I nodded, keeping my tongue tucked gingerly away inside my mouth. I was afraid that if I spoke again then she would never tell me what I wanted to know.

Mary scrubbed her face hard before raking them back through her curls.

"I'll only tell you what I have been told. While, yes, you are an angel of God, you were not born an angel. God made you with a specific purpose in mind. Only He didn't make you in Heaven like all the other angels. Instead He gave you a mortal life and bestowed upon you the gift of an angel. He gave you the gift of saving souls. Out of every mortal here upon Earth, you had the purest of hearts; the brightest of energies. It is because that you were not made in Heaven that you have no wings. God wanted you to live as normal of a life as possible," Mary explained.

"Then why make me 'Savior of Souls'—" I air quoted— "if He wanted me to live a normal of a life as possible?"

"You know how everyone is always saying 'don't worry, dear, God has plans for you'? Well, that's not really true for a lot of people. He creates them with a purpose in mind, sure, but does anyone ever follow down the path He sets for them half the time? No. Why? Because they're human. They don't know for sure what to believe in, what exactly is right and wrong, or which path is set for them. All they know for sure, or should at least, is that they are here living for a reason. It's ultimately up to them to discover that said reason.

"You on the other hand? God couldn't take the chance for you to stray from your set path. The plans He had for you were too specific. Since the moment he made Zak and foresaw the path he would go down, God spent the next 10 years molding, shaping, and creating YOU. He needed for you to come in at a specific time in your parents' life so that things would end up the way He needed for them to go."

"Are you saying…God…planned my parents' deaths?" I quietly questioned unsure whether to feel angry or not.

Mary hesitantly shrugged her shoulders. "That is a question I can't answer for sure. All I know is that He placed you down here when the time was right in order for your path to be set. Once you were born, He bestowed upon you the gift of saving souls; this is something given, typically, to angels made up in Heaven."

"But because He needed me for a specific purpose down here…" I began.

Mary nodded. "You were basically a mortal with angelic powers."

"Did He expect me to save all the souls I came into contact with?" I asked her as the thought of me being partial angel began to sit comfortably within my mind.

"No, not at all," Mary replied shaking her head. "He knew that it would take time for you to realize your true potential. He even knew that having that particular gift would most likely scare you from what your purpose was, but that is why He encouraged Zak down the path of ghost hunting. Even though God knew the consequences of what He was doing, He needed someone that could set you back on the right path."

"So, He made Zak go through pain and misery…just so that I would realize my true potential and save his life? That's insane!" I said shaking my head in disbelief.

"Believe it or not, but it's true, Aerolynn. God made you for a specific purpose unlike 98% of the rest of the world and He couldn't afford to have you stray from your destined path. When He saw you were too frightened to accept who you really were, God made sure that there would be someone to bring you back into the light. Someone that would help you see your true purpose. Someone destined to come into your life for you to save."

"The way you're making it sound…" I started wondering if she was meaning what I think she was.

"That's right, Aerolynn. The fact that you won that contest on the radio and met Zak was no coincidence. That was not a chance meeting. That was Fate. God made Zak your destiny. You were born to save him from the very beginning."

****************************************************************************************

~~~~~~Zak's P.O.V~~~~~~

I could feel my body moving. I could feel the tiny grains of sand bite into the palms of my hands as I stood up from the ground. I vaguely remember having passed out shortly after having seen Mary. Or…had I really seen her? Had I only wanted to see her? What had she said to me before I blacked out?

_Don't worry, Zak. She'll save you before time runs out._

Did that mean that Aerolynn was coming for me? Had Mary alerted her to my whereabouts? Although I felt my knees grow weak from relief…I wasn't falling. I wasn't even stumbling. In fact, I could feel the sand dip beneath my boots as I walked across the beach, but…I wasn't in control of my legs. I didn't want to be walking. The more I realized that I had no control over any of my actions, the quicker panic set in.

I quickly glanced around my surroundings. Darkness built walls around me. It felt like I was looking through my own eyes from very far away. Where was I? Was I trapped inside my own body? If that was the case then how was I…? Fear stabbed my heart.

_Let me out! _my screams echoed inside the confines of my own body.

The rumbling of my own laughter reverberated around me. Only it was not my laughter. No. This laughter was too deep…maniacal…demonic. That laughter confirmed all of my suspicions.

"I am in control now, little boy," It spat back.

_What are you going to do? Stay away from Aerolynn! _I warned it as I frantically searched for a way to gain control of my own body again.

"You're pathetic. You think that I spent all this effort trying to gain control just so I could go after THAT skinny little whore?"

_Don't fucking talk about her like that! _I growled clawing at the darkness around me. I needed to find a way out. How had this happened? I had been in control. It had receded back into its hole, so how had it completely overtaken me?

"Don't threaten me mortal!" It snapped at me. I dropped to my knees as a sudden wave of agonizing pain stole the breath from my lungs. It felt like a thousand blades were cutting into my body. "Now that your soul is completely mine to own, you no longer have control over me. Had you not been around that disgusting angel then maybe you would have survived longer."

_Angel?_

"She made you WEAK!" It growled. I could feel the invisible hands grip tighter around my throat; the unseen blades cutting deeper into my flesh.

_She…WILL…save…me…_ I choked out with a triumphant smile.

"Not if there is no body or soul for her to save," it maniacally chuckled.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I sat in silence beside Mary as I mulled over everything she had just told me. Zak and I were destined to always meet. In one way or another, we were going to meet for the sole purpose of me saving his soul.

I turned to Mary as another question popped into my mind. "Did God know that we would fall in love?" I asked, my heart beating faster in anticipation of her answer.

Mary chuckled slightly and tossed her curls over her shoulder. "What a silly question to ask," she answered with a twinkle in her uniquely colored eyes.

I smiled in relief and laughed softly at myself. "Maybe so, but I wasn't for sure if maybe He hadn't planned for that to happen. And that maybe since it had, He would get angry or something. You know, having one of His angels being in love with a demon."

"Zak isn't a demon," Mary corrected. "Zak just has its shadow growing and living inside of him. That doesn't make HIM the demon. Even if that WAS the case, God would never be so cruel as to break apart two people destined to love one another."

I nodded, a small smile playing around the corners of my mouth. "I suppose that you're right." My gaze dropped to the ground at my feet. The plush green grass swayed slightly in the gentle breeze; the delicate scent of wildflowers tickled my nose.

"I really do love him, you know. I will do anything it takes to save him," I whispered unsure if she would even be able to hear me.

Mary didn't comment for the longest time, I was afraid she HADN'T heard me. My gaze slid back to her only to see those swirling hazel eyes boring into mine with a kind of sadness.

"Even if it meant that you would die in the end?" she softly questioned.

My eyes widened infinitesimally at her question before I could feel my head slowly bob up and down in a nod.

"Of course. I would gladly give my life to save his. As long as I knew he was safe," I answered boldly making sure my gaze never once faltered away from hers. She needed to know that what I had just told her was the absolute and utter truth. Death was just a small dot on my screen when it came to saving Zak. I would do anything for him.

Mary smiled as if she had only asked that question to reaffirm how I felt about Zak.

"You haven't yet asked me the one question that is most important, though," Mary teased nudging my shoulder with hers.

I arched a brow waiting for her to continue.

"How to save Zak," she answered.

"How, Mary? Tell me how to save him."

"Do you remember how I brought you back here?" Mary inquired.

I scrunched my eyebrows together as I thought back a couple of weeks. "Yes, I remember, why?"

"So then you recall how I shoved my hands deep inside your chest and basically restarted your heart?" I nodded my agreement.

"Well, it's something like that I suppose. I don't…" Mary sighed. "I don't really know the specifics. God said you would know how to save him when it came to that point. That it would just suddenly click inside your head. He did give me something to tell you though."

I quirked a dark brow in curiosity and tilted my head to the side. I tucked my rich brown hair behind my ear as it began to fall across my face. "Oh? And what did He tell you to tell me?"

"He said, 'Thou cannot defeat power greater than thine own'," she reiterated.

"Um…what?"

Mary shrugged her tiny shoulders. "Don't ask me. You're expected to know what He means by that."

I sighed in frustration. "I'm not a true angel of His, so how the hell am I supposed to know what He means by that?"

"Like I said, He said it would click in your head at the right moment."

I shoved my hands back through my tousled waves gripping at the sides of my skull. I needed to know what He meant NOW. Not later when my life could possibly be at risk. I growled in aggravation at the entire situation. Why explain in detail about my duty as an angel if the frigging guy wouldn't even tell me how to save the man I loved? At least with a slightly better description then 'thou cannot defeat power greater than thine own'. This was infuriating! I didn't have the time to waste trying to figure this out! I needed to find Zak!

I whipped around to face Mary; my hands gripped her fragile shoulders tightly. "Mary, where is Zak? Is he ok? Will I be able to get to him and save him in time?" I shot off one question after another.

Mary sheepishly grinned. "About that…" she nervously chuckled.

My eyes went wide. "Please don't tell me it's too late to save him," I breathed trying to hold back the tears that burned at the edges of my eyes.

"No, not completely, but listen to me very carefully, Aerolynn. He's not Zak anymore."

"Do you mean…the darkness…?"

Her eyes shone with sorrow as she spoke, "I'm afraid so. It's completely overtaken him. There's not much of him left. When I had last seen him lying there on the floor, he—"

"WHAT?!" I cried out shaking her lithe body slightly. "Are you telling me he's dead? That the darkness—"

Mary's small hand slapped across my cheek making me lose all thought. The side of my face stung with the force of her slap. I lifted a shaking hand to my cheek completely shocked at what she had done.

"Would you stop interrupting me and jumping to inane conclusions?" she huffed angrily. "He's NOT dead. He passed out from the inner battle he'd had with the darkness. While he was vulnerable, the darkness took full control of him consuming the little that was left of his soul. It has a tight rein over him now. So that's why I came to you as quickly as possible to explain these things to you. I figured we would have more time than this for me to explain, but it appears that the darkness has grown at a faster rate than expected," Mary quickly explained.

I lowered my hand; a fierce determination replacing any thought and feeling I had been having. "Where is he, Mary? It sounds like time has run out for us."

"He's at the lake beside the MacMiller house. He was lying on the small beach last I saw him before I came to get you."

"You mean he was there the entire time?" I gasped in slight shock and outrage. He had been that close the entire time?

"I guess so. I'm not sure. But you need to get to him quickly, Aerolynn. Otherwise, I fear we might be too late."

I was already dashing for the car before she could even finish her sentence. I couldn't believe he had been so close within my grasp this entire time. And here Nick and I had been thinking he had traveled farther away than he had. I almost wanted to laugh out loud with joy at the mere thought. I knew Zak wouldn't go far. Or if he had been planning on it, he had first stopped by the place where he had planned a surprise for me. A place that held memories for him. A place that held memories of us.

I stabbed the key into the ignition and roared the car to life. I turned the car around and tore out of the cemetery flying down the small country road racing for Zak.

****************************************************************************************

~~~~~~Luke's P.O.V~~~~~~

I counted the money in the cash register when the bell rang signaling someone's entrance. I lifted my head and tipped my head at Mason. He was still covering for Aero which I didn't mind. I knew Aero needed her rest and plus today was her birthday. She kind of deserved the day off to spend some time with her…boyfriend…

My heart throbbed with a stabbing pain like someone had sliced open my heart and had merely pinned the wound together with thick needles. I sighed. I couldn't control who she loved any more than I could control my love for her. I was just glad to see he had returned to her just in time. I'm not sure she would have survived if she hadn't known Zak was waiting for her to wake up.

"Yo, dude, what's up?" Mason greeted sliding behind me and leaning his back against the counter beside me.

I shrugged. "Not too much. Just counting up the money in the drawer to make sure everything adds up right."

"You mean you can count? And ADD?" Mason gasped in shock. I shot him a dirty glare before breaking out into a smile and shaking my head.

"That's fair, I suppose. I'm still amazed at the fact that you can read something that has no pictures to help you," I retorted with a chuckle.

Mason laughed. "Dick," he smiled shaking his head.

"So what does your sister have planned for her birthday?"

I wasn't sure why, but that one question shifted the entire atmosphere surrounding us. It had gone from being playful and carefree to dismal and distressing.

"I'm not sure. I hope she'll be ok though," he sighed turning his back to me and snatching out his apron from under the counter.

"Oh…I see. Because I was going to stop by the apartment later and give her something," I informed him fingering the object in the side cargo pocket of my pants.

Just then a car that looked eerily familiar flew by the store. For a moment, as the car raced by, time slowed to a crawl. Through the driver's side window I could see the determined face of Aerolynn focusing on something beyond the road. Under that determined mask was another emotion: fear. What had her so frightened, yet determined that she was breaking all speed laws in the country to get to it or away from it?

"Mason, cover the store for me," I mumbled as I slammed the drawer shut now that I had officially lost all interest in counting money.

"What? Why?" He asked confused.

"Just…do it. There's something I need to do right now that is urgent," I snapped at him slightly irritated. The longer I stood talking to him, the greater of a distance that came between Aerolynn and me.

"Don't fucking snap at me!" Mason retorted. I didn't have time to argue with him as I ran out the door to my truck to chase after Aerolynn.

I didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that whatever it was wouldn't end well.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I flew down the road, passed the motel, and passed the MacMiller house before yanking the steering wheel to the right to turn off onto the road that led down to the small beach area where Zak had taken me just last night. As I slammed on my breaks behind Zak's parked car, all of my other thoughts came to a sudden halt as well. Had that only happened last night? Thinking on it…it had. He had taken me out here for a birthday celebration then quickly drove us home where we made love to each other through the night.

Then somewhere in between there, he had tried to kill me. After that, he had left during the early morning hours while I was still asleep forcing me to awaken to an empty bed and apartment. Other than my brother. All of this…since he had said the words 'happy birthday'…had happened all today. So much had happened in just a span of nearly 19 hours considering it was about a quarter of seven right now. What a birthday this was turning out to be.

_Happy 26__th__ to me_, I sighed mentally to myself.

I shifted the gear into park and cut the engine, nearly falling out of my car as my feet pounded on the pavement racing towards Zak's car parked near the sand. I reached the driver's side door and flung it open only to find an empty car. I pivoted around and searched the immediate area for Zak, but he was nowhere to be found.

I whipped around to face Mary. Her face held a mixture of confusion and fear. "Mary, where is he? Didn't you say he was lying on the ground right before you came to me?"

"Yes," she hesitantly answered.

"So then WHERE IS HE?" I cried out in anger at her. I didn't mean to raise my voice to her. I knew it wasn't her fault that Zak had disappeared. All of the stress, fear, and anger was getting to me making me lose my head; lose focus. All of my thoughts right now were on finding Zak.

"I-I don't know! He was RIGHT. HERE!" she yelled back pointing to the ground a few feet in front of the car. There, in the sand, was a visible dip where it appeared someone HAD indeed been laying.

That's when I saw them. The footprints. They were leading away from the large dip and to a thin forest trail that had been overrun by nature throughout the years of it not being used. My heart dropped to the floor. I knew where that trail led. I had only been down that trail once, but it was a place I told myself I would never return to again.

Mary must have seen the look on my face as I gazed in horror at the thick forest. "What? What's wrong? Where did he go? Do you know?" she asked. I could hear the hope rising in her voice with each new question.

I lifted my arm and pointed a shaking finger towards the trail.

"Ok, great! So let's go get him!"

"NO! Wait, Mary," I screamed forcing her to stop. She gazed up at me through worries eyes. "I want you to get Nick and Aaron. I have a feeling I won't be able to do this alone. And in case you are right about me giving my life to save Zak…I need someone there for when he wakes up. Someone close to him. Someone familiar," I instructed.

"That may be slightly difficult to do. The reason you can see me is because of your angelic power. The reason Zak can see me is because of his darkness. I'm not sure Nick and Aaron would be able to," Mary warned.

"I don't care!" I spat out nearly hysterical at this point. I could feel my heart beating against my chest at a thousand miles per hour at this point. "Just….just find a way to communicate with them and get their asses down here as soon as possible!"

"Aerolynn…calm down. Wh-what's down there anyhow that is making you freak out so much?" Mary quietly asked. I could tell she was too scared to speak any louder afraid of another outburst from me.

"They called this town Sunfire Falls for a reason. At the very end of that trail is a patch of ground that suddenly ends. If you're not careful when standing near the edge, the ground will crumble beneath your feet making you fall into an area covered by jagged rocks and broken glass from the beer bottles kids have thrown over the edge," I softly explained.

"You're saying that this trail leads to a _cliff_?" Mary asked in disbelief.

I nodded. "It used to be a waterfall, but soon, over time, nature and man itself blocked off its access to water. It took water from the lake, when it was much larger than it is now, and it ran into a river that eventually circled back to the lake. But it has dried up now and they have filled in the water's path with dirt and rocks. Then nature did the rest. I'm surprised you don't know about it or learned about our town's history in class," I said looking down at her.

She shook her head. "Like I told you, I had just moved here. Honestly, if they did tell us about it in class, I didn't pay attention. I was too busy looking for ways to make friends to care about a history lesson on a town that we'd probably move away from anyways."

"Oh…"

"Why are you so afraid of it?" she cautiously asked.

"My brother…he almost died there once because of me. We had been messing around waiting for sunset to come because….that place…." I breathed remembering the way the sky reflected the different hues of pink, orange, purple, and blue of the sunset. "That place when sunset or sunrise came…it really blows you away at how breathtakingly beautiful it is. Anyways, we had been messing around when I pushed my brother and he tumbled off the edge of the cliff. The only thing saving him from death was the thick branch jutting out from the side of it. I finally got him back onto firm land, but…I almost lost my brother that day. That had happened not too long after our father passed away in a car accident," I whispered as I felt the familiar sting in my eyes every time I looked back on that memory. I wouldn't have been able to bear the pain if my brother had died that day.

Mary nodded and rested a comforting hand on my arm. "Save Zak," she told me. "I'll go get Nick and Aaron."

I gave her a curt nod of my head. After she disappeared I drug the back of my hand across my eyes before darting onto the tiny, densely forested trail towards Sunset Cliff. The trees and dead, fallen leaves crunched beneath my feet as I sprinted through the trees. My foot caught on a root jutting out from the ground making me trip and fall to the ground landing awkwardly on my wrist as I tried to catch myself.

I jumped to my feet and rotated my wrist around making sure nothing was broken or fractured. There was a dull throbbing ache on the side of my wrist, but as far as I could tell everything seemed to be in working order. I clenched my fingers into a fist and unclenched them. It was nothing I couldn't handle for the time being considering I had more important things to tend to other than an aching wrist.

I dusted my jeans off and hurried down the slim path that had been dominated by Mother Nature. I smacked a few low hanging branches away from my face feeling the sting as it cut against my palm. By the time I came out of this, I was going to be covered with bruises and cuts. None of that mattered though. What mattered was finding Zak and bringing him back.

"Zak!" I yelled as I saw the trail coming to an end. A few more of the trees had been cleared out making the plot of land slightly larger than when I had last been here over ten years ago. I ducked underneath the final tree branch and emerged out onto the barren ground. My eyes darted around the enclosed area looking for Zak. Not seeing him, tears sprang to my eyes. My heart stopped when my eyes rested on the edge of the cliff.

I slowly moved towards the edge fearful of what my heart would see upon looking down. I closed my eyes when I had drawn close enough to the edge that I could look down below me towards the rocks. I sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, yet I still didn't have the courage to look.

_Come on, Aerolynn. Just open your eyes on three. One…two…th—_

"Looking for me?" a deep, demonic all too familiar voice questioned.

I whirled around nearly stumbling over the edge. My eyes widened when I saw Zak was alive and ok. There was no holding back the tears that flowed from my eyes and dripped off my chin. I was just glad to see that the demon hadn't tossed his body over the edge. That gave me enough hope to believe I was able to still save him from all of this.

"Oh cut the tears," It snapped in his voice. "Zak's no longer here. You can't save him."

"The hell I can't!" I cried out angrily scratching away my tears. This thing was bound and determine to piss me off.

"Foolish angel," it sneered. "I have consumed his soul. There's nothing LEFT for you to save."

"That's not true. I know Zak is still alive inside of there somewhere. Trapped away, surrounded by darkness, and living in fear, but he is ALIVE. And I WILL bring him back and send you back into your rotting grave of eternal damnation," I threatened with a growl in my voice.

"What makes you so sure his humanity hasn't been completely shredded by now?" it smirked at me showing razor sharp teeth and a blackened tongue. This was definitely not Zak anymore. Even the black pupil of his eyes had begun to bleed out into the iris and beyond into the white completely coating the eye.

"Because I feel that last shred of humanity still quaking with fear and determination inside of him— inside of YOU— through all the darkness."

A maniacal laughter spilled forth from the lips that had brought me so much love and happiness. Those same lips were now being used to spout such evil babblings.

"You're quite the stupid little bitch, aren't you?" It giggled. "You honestly think your power is greater than my own?" It growled snapping It's teeth at me.

My eyes widened at what he had said. Those words…they reminded me of what Mary had said to me.

_Thou cannot defeat power greater than thine own._

Suddenly I understood what I had to do. God had been right. It all was clear to me now. My eyes gazed into the ink black pools that had now become Zak's eyes.

_Zak, I know you're in there. I can feel you still alive in there…somewhere deep inside…hear my cry…_

I took a deep breath knowing that this is what I had to do in order to bring him back; in order for me to save him.

I took a step back.

"All I have…is one last chance," I softly sang my eyes never leaving his. It quirked a brow in curiosity. I knew he had heard me from that look alone.

"I won't turn my back on you," I sang louder taking another step back.

"Take my hand, drag me down," I sang out the next line with confidence as I saw the black in his eyes begin to recede.

"No!" It hissed. His fingers curled into a fist as his body began convulsing.

I took another step back; my heels on the edge of the cliff. I spread my arms out wide.

Tears streamed down my face as I closed my eyes and whispered the next line:

"If you fall then I will, too."

I felt the air envelope my body as I fell backwards off the cliff.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

******Luke's P.O.V******

I slowly drove my truck down the road leading to the lakeside beach. As soon as I saw Aerolynn dart onto that trail leading to Sunset Cliff, I shoved the gear into park and tumbled out of the truck. I didn't even bother with shutting the door behind me as my feet pounded against the pavement. I ran down the rest of the road, passed Aerolynn's car, and into the trail. I was immediately smacked in the face with multiple low hanging branches; my feet were constantly tripping over the broken twigs and projecting tree roots. How Aero had glided passed these like they weren't even here was beyond me. The branches caught at my shirt ripping tiny holes into the fabric; the ends sliced into my flesh creating small scratches all over my exposed arms.

Angry that with every step I took I was being ensnared by Mother Nature, I released a frustrated growl and started plowing my way through the trail uncaring about the things that slapped at my face or ripped at my shirt. My only focus was getting to Aerolynn.

I couldn't believe she would willingly come back to this place after what almost happened to her brother when she was younger. Then I heard her voice call out from far away.

"Zak!"

Everything clicked into place. My footsteps slowed to a stop in the middle of the trail. She wasn't in need of my help. She had Zak. Zak had probably planned a surprise birthday picnic for her here without realizing her fears about the place. I should have known that she would only ever come back to this place for HIM. Hell, even when we had been dating I couldn't even get her to come anywhere close to the entrance of the trail let alone onto the trail.

_Congratulations, Zak. You have officially won the heart of my best friend. Seems you make her happier than I could even dream. Take care of her. She still has a hold of my heart even though it's broken in her hands,_ I sighed to myself.

I pivoted on my heel and kicked a few twigs and leaves off the path. I withdrew the velvet box from my pocket and popped open the lid. Inside, tucked safely in the satin bed, was a thick ruby ring with a silver flower encasing. Her favorite gemstone combined with her favored metal: silver. I had been saving up money since the beginning of the year in order to buy her this in time for her birthday because I had hoped there might be a chance for us again, but it seemed there was no longer room for me in her heart.

I plucked the ring from its satin bed and rolled it between my fingers as I remember what the clerk told me about the ruby.

_"Do you know what the ruby means?" She asked me as I admired the beauty of the ring._

_ "No," I answered shaking my head._

_ She flashed me a wide smile. "The ruby is considered to be the most powerful gem in the universe. It is associated with many astral signs."_

_ "Oh yeah?" I mumbled not really interested in her babble._

_ "And this is a gift for your lady friend, am I correct?" she prodded._

_ I nodded, my gaze now lifting from the ring to stare into her bright green eyes._

_ She smiled, licking her lips before speaking. "Well, it is said that the ruby given as a gift, is a symbol of friendship and love."_

_ I smiled sadly down at the ring. It looked like her favorite gem was the perfect match to my heart._

Friendship and love, huh? Seemed to fit us perfectly. I tilted the ring up to read the words I had the woman engrave inside the silver metal of the ring. I sighed and slipped the ring back into the box before closing it shut. I jammed it back into my pocket with a mixture of sadness and anger. I was sad that she may forget me now that she had a new life as a celebrity's girlfriend and I was too cowardly to try and keep that friendship with her. At the same time however, I was angry with myself for being stupid and dating another girl to make her jealous when I should have just manned up from the very beginning and told her how I felt.

I drug a hand down my face as a sudden feeling of lethargy swept over me. Just then I heard Aerolynn shouting— no, she was singing something. I jogged further down the path hoping to hear what it was she was singing. I had always loved hearing her sing. Her voice was soft and delicate like a feather, but had the power and harmony of an angel.

The closer I drew to the end of the path, the clearer her words became.

"I won't turn my back on you," she sang. I pushed aside the low hanging branch to get a look at her and Zak.

Zak had his back to me; his body slightly trembling. I smiled. Her singing usually had that effect on people.

"Take my hand, drag me down," she sang louder. That's when I noticed her backing up towards the edge of the cliff. I straightened up from my hunched over position in the woods as fear stabbed at my heart. What was she doing? Why wasn't Zak doing anything to stop her?!

"No!" Zak screamed in pain. His voice was a mixture of anger and pained sorrow. His body began to convulse as Aerolynn now stood on the edge of the cliff. My eyes widened.

_No…_

I watched as she closed her eyes and spread her arms wide. That one action confirmed my fears. She whispered something; tears streamed down her angelic face.

"No!" I breathed rushing out from the trail and pushing Zak aside since he was doing nothing to stop her from what she was about to do.

She slowly started falling backwards; her hair billowing around her face as the air swept in around her. My heart pounded hard inside my chest as the cold hands of fear tightened around my lungs making it hard for me to breathe.

_Please reach her in time…_

I stretched out my hand…

Our fingers brushed by each other as she continued to fall.

I pushed my feet off the ground and jumped after her over the cliff.

I fell through the air catching up to her quickly. I wrapped one arm securely around her waist while the other one shot out and was barely able to grab hold of the root protruding from the side of the cliff. We swung through the air and slammed up against the solid cliff wall. I grunted in pain, but kept a firm grasp on her and the root.

Aerolynn lifted her head and slowly fluttered open her eyes. She glanced up, shock registering in her eyes.

"Luke? What…what are you DOING here?" she asked in disbelief. Her arms wrapped tightly around my chest as she clung to me for her life.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, Aerolynn? Are you fucking INSANE?" I chastised her as I felt my grip slowly beginning to slip on the root.

"I was trying to get Zak back!" she hissed in my ear angrily.

"Well, clearly he wasn't going to do anything about it," I huffed. My grip slipped a little more jarring us.

Aerolynn looked up as she saw my face beginning to strain from the effort of trying to hold her and the root. While she was staring up, I jammed my hand inside my pocket and dug out the velvet box. I slipped it inside her coat pocket before she could even notice.

"Luke, we aren't going to make it," she said gazing at me through tear filled eyes. Her plush bottom lip had begun trembling.

"Yes, we will," I assured her tightening my grip around her waist to bring her comfort.

"Aerolynn!" A voice called from above us. We both glanced up to see Zak's head looking down at us from the edge of the cliff.

"Zak!" Aerolynn cried, tears dripping from her face.

Zak smiled, but the smile didn't stay long. "We have a short amount of time before it comes back. We need to hurry!" Zak stretched out his hand towards us.

"Grab my hand, Aerolynn!" he hurried. She looked back at me. I smiled down at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm more worried about your safety."

She held my gaze for a few moments longer. As she held my gaze, I had the sudden urge to kiss her trembling lips. So I did. I leaned in and covered my mouth with hers. I could taste the salt upon her lips from the tears she was shedding. I pulled away with a small, sad smile.

"Luke…why—"

"Aerolynn, come on!" Zak shouted spreading his fingers in hopes of reaching her hand.

She stretched her arm high above her head; her fingers barely meeting Zak's. They both stretched a little further and grabbed onto each other's wrists. Freeing her other hand from its death grip on my shirt, she clasped it on the other side of Zak's hand as he slowly pulled her back up onto solid ground.

When she had safely been pulled up onto the cliff, I released a sigh of relief knowing she was safe for now. I grabbed a hold of the root with my other hand only to feel it begin to pull out of the cliff even further. I smiled sadly to myself knowing this was going to happen. It's why I kissed her. I wanted to feel those lips against mine one last time.

I was just glad I could save her in time. Now she could live a happy life with Zak. I just hoped she wouldn't pull anymore stupid stunts like this one. I wouldn't be there to save her the next time. Hot tears clouded my vision before falling one by one down my face.

The root slowly began pulling out of the cliff underneath my weight.

Zak and Aerolynn peered over the edge; Zak's hand outstretched toward mine.

"Come on, Luke! If we hurry I can pull you to safety. We don't have much time!" he shouted reaching down as far as he could for my hand. My fingers trembled around the base of the root. Or was that the root trembling from the stress of my weight?

My eyes locked onto Aerolynn's crying face. She had known the minute I kissed her that this was goodbye.

"I will always love you," I mouthed to her.

"Luke, no!" she cried out nearly jumping off the cliff again as the root finally broke free from the cliff. Zak grabbed her around her waist holding her back.

"LUKE!" she screamed before breaking down into sobs.

My eyes stayed focused on her face as my body flew weightless through the air. As she grew smaller and smaller, I closed my eyes and awaited my inescapable death; Aerolynn's cries ringing eternally in my ears.

****************************************************************************************

~~~~~~Aerolynn's P.O.V~~~~~~

"LUKE!" I screamed again as he fell away from me soon disappearing from my sight.

Zak's arms were wrapped tightly around my waist to keep me from tumbling over the cliff after my best friend.

"Luke…" I sobbed. Why couldn't I be a true angel of God? Why couldn't I have wings? Then I could have saved him. I COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!

Zak yanked me back up onto the cliff. I fell back onto his chest; my body shaking from the endless sobs. Why did he do that? Why did he have to be so STUPID?! How in the world had he known where I was to begin with?

"Why, Luke, WHY?! You STUPID son of a bitch!" I cried angrily into Zak's chest as he stroked his fingers through my hair.

"Why…"

How was I supposed to go on without my best friend right by my side? It was unimaginable. He meant everything to me. EVERYTHING. If it hadn't been for him though…I'd be dead. Zak wouldn't have been able to catch me in time.

"You stupid man…" I chuckled through my sobs.

His final words rang in my ears: I will always love you.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The world had come crashing down upon me. I longer had my best friend to lean on when I felt weak; to laugh with when I had a funny story to share; to cause all sorts of trouble with. I'm not sure the reality of the situation had hit me until just now that my best friend was officially gone. He had left me at the worst possible time in my life. He had left me in the middle of my battle against the darkness inside Zak. Knowing that Luke wasn't going to be waiting back at the pizza shop after all this was said and done….it paralyzed me. I couldn't move. How could I?

Luke was…dead.

"Aerolynn? Aerolynn!" A deep concerned voice called out to me bringing me out of my dark thoughts. Feeling almost numb, my eyes slowly lifted up to meet a pair of large stormy blue orbs staring back at me.

"We have to—gah!" Zak cried out as his head was slammed back onto the ground and his body convulsed beneath mine. His hands unconsciously tightened their grip around my arms making me wince in pain. That throbbing stab of pain is what slammed me back into reality; it chased all the numbness away.

I would have to mourn over Luke's death later. Right now, there was a soul in need of saving. And if I didn't hurry, then I might never get Zak back. His control over the darkness was steadily slipping. The only thing that kept him barely hanging on was his overwhelming concern for me.

"Aer...o…..lynn," he ground out between clenched teeth. His voice went into a deep growl for a second before returning to normal. His eyes were constantly shifting between ink black and stormy blue.

"Hurry!" he yelled. I flinched back at the sudden assault of sound on my ears.

I scrambled up onto my knees and hovered over Zak. What in the world was I supposed to do? The whole reason I had fallen off the edge of the cliff was to bring Zak back into himself because I wasn't powerful enough to defeat the darkness while it had absolute control over Zak. _Thou cannot defeat power greater than thine own. _I had finally understood what it meant in that moment. Now that Zak had slight control over the darkness, that meant it was weak enough right now for me to defeat it. The only question was…how? Mary had said that it was similar to what she did to me to bring me back to my body, but what if I didn't have the ability to magically push my hands through Zak's chest? And even if I did…what in the hell would I do? The darkness wasn't just in one location inside his body. It was EVERYWHERE. So how would I even know if I got all of it?

I was jolted out of my frantic thoughts as Zak wrapped his fingers firmly, but gently, around my arm.

"I…be…lieve…in you…" he softly encouraged through tightly clenched teeth. I gazed deep into those wide, stormy blue orbs of his seeing the inner battle he was having within himself. It was the struggle of pain and determination that made me nod my head firmly and focus on his chest.

"Here goes," I mumbled. "This may hurt a bit," I spoke a little louder in order for him to hear me.

A laughter mixed with pain forced its way from his lips. "I don't think it could hurt much worse than—AAAAAAAGGGGHHHH FUUUUCK!" he growled as I slammed my hands into his chest.

It had been just as Mary said. My hands had turned into something like liquid as soon as they hit his chest; they passed right through into the center of him. He felt so…warm inside. I could feel the rapid beating of his heart pulse all around my hands as it pumped blood throughout his body. That wasn't the only thing I could feel unfortunately. My hands soon began to burn with a great intensity as the darkness began clawing at them to make me remove myself from his chest.

"I'm sorry, Zak," I whispered. A tear trailed down my face as I moved a hand to grab at the darkness.

"AAAAGGGHHHH STOP MOVING!" He yelled.

"I'm sorry! Just bear with it for right now!" I snapped back trying my best not to cry. I didn't mean for it to cause him this much pain, but I couldn't control that factor. Right now, I had to search for the heart of the darkness.

Zak's fingernails dug into the dirt at his sides as his feet planted themselves on the ground. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as I continued maneuvering my way around inside his body looking for the base of the darkness.

"Get away!" He growled, his hands lunging for my throat and squeezing it tightly between his fingers.

"Zak…I'm…trying….to help," I sputtered refusing to remove my hands from his chest. Who knew if I would be able to get back inside him again? This might be my only chance, but I had to hurry. The darkness was beginning to take over again and soon I would be powerless against it.

"Zak!" A shocked male voice cried out. I looked up through blurry vision to see Nick and Aaron stumble off the trail and fall to their knees beside their best friend.

"Restrain him!" I heard a familiar soprano voice order. I smiled up at Mary, thankful that she was able to bring the men here in time.

Nick and Aaron nodded at each other before grabbing at Zak's arms and ripping his hands away from my throat. I gasped for more air the very moment my esophagus had opened up. The sudden intake of air made me cough for a short moment before I went back to focusing on my task.

"Keep him restrained and I will work as fast as I can. Mary?!" I called out after giving Nick and Aaron their orders.

"Yes?" she asked cautiously.

"Care to possibly help me know what in the HELL I am supposed to be doing right now?!"

"Um…well…where do you feel the most power?"

I moved my hands around making Zak scream in agony. It seemed that no matter where I went, I felt the darkness' power pulsing all around my hands. It clawed at them, bit at them; anything to make me lose focus and remove my hands. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes.

"I-I don't know! It feels the same no matter where I go!" I cried out helplessly.

"Close your eyes and focus on the energy inside of him!" Mary instructed.

I closed my eyes and focused all of my thoughts on my hands.

"Now…I want you to block out any sounds you hear except for the sound of my voice. Surround yourself in a bubble where the only sound is your breathing and my voice," she soothingly explained. I imagined a giant bubble enveloping me and her blocking out anything and everything. Slowly, Zak's cries of pain and demonic curses began fading away until it was only silence that rang deafeningly in my ears.

"Now search for the power of the darkness…" she whispered.

Keeping my eyes closed, I slowly moved my hand around in Zak's chest. I bit my bottom lip as I focused passed the agony and the burning sensation. Slowly, that faded away as well leaving me to feel only the energy inside myself and Zak. Zak's energy felt so…empty and weak. Like there wasn't much for him to stay alive for anymore. I could feel him on the verge of giving up; the pain of the darkness and my energy inside him becoming too much for him to take. I could feel the satisfaction of the darkness as it felt him giving up.

I adjusted my hands closer to where his heart beat slowly; slower than when I had last heard it. Then again, I had been hearing HIS heart; the heart of his humanity that had been beating fast from the fear and pain clutching at his heart. I was looking passed that now. I was feeling the heart of the darkness. The calm, steady rhythm of it made me sick to my stomach. It knew it was going to beat out Zak's control and eventually push me away. It knew it was going to win this fight.

I felt the steady stream of power emanating from that beating heart. Anger coursed its way through my body. _Not today you son of a bitch. Zak is MINE!_ I thought to myself as my fingernails dug deep into It's heart. I could vaguely hear It's cries echoing out of Zak's mouth making me lose focus for a few seconds before digging my nails in even deeper. There was no way I was letting it win. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that I was digging my nails not only into the heart of the darkness, but into Zak's heart as well since that is where the darkness drew It's power from. But I couldn't focus too much on that right now. Gripping it so tightly in my hands, nails penetrating deep, I could feel this burning liquid ooze out over my hands. I ground my teeth together as I wondered what I should do now.

"Draw it out," a soft child's voice whispered. I took a deep breath and focused every single fiber of my being onto my hands; all the energy I had in me bringing light to the darkness of his soul. Zak's body convulsed beneath my hands as I felt the darkness slowly seeping into my fingers. It continued to slowly climb up my arms and branch out. Each nerve and vein was set on fire; my teeth ground against each other as I tried to bear with the pain.

"Mary!" I screamed as I felt it reach the center of my chest and still sizzle its way throughout my body.

I felt a comforting hand touch my shoulder. "It's alright. This is part of the process. In order for you to completely expel the darkness you must take it into yourself first. From there you can destroy it because YOU will be the one in complete control. It won't have a chance against you."

My eyes snapped open to stare down at my arms that had black webbing running up all along the entire length. I opened my mouth to scream only to be cut off when my throat was suddenly blocked off by a thick liquid. I coughed hoping to get it out of my throat when a small hand was slapped over my mouth. I flicked worried brown eyes over towards Mary. She was vehemently shaking her head at me.

"Don't do that. Don't let a single tiny drop of it out of you. Even with that small tiny drop, the darkness can grow into something horrendous that not even the archangel Gabriel could destroy. I know it's choking you, but trust me. You will continue living. Just hold out for a little longer. Look, Zak is growing healthier because of you," Mary informed me, her eyes focusing over at Zak.

My eyes fluttered down to gaze upon Zak's handsome face. A face that had been consuming my every waking thought and had been the center of my dreams ever since 2008 when Ghost Adventures first aired. As the years went by, my fondness for him only grew. Who would have thought that our destinies were intertwined; that we were fated together by God Himself? Tears gathered in my eyes as I saw his body beginning to calm. I could feel his heart return to its steady beating, fear no longer consuming him. He had gone through so much for me even before he knew me. Now it was my turn to battle with the darkness inside of me. He had saved me by allowing me to believe in love again. I was going to save him by loving him so completely in return.

I closed my eyes as tears made fresh tracks down my face. Not only that, but Luke didn't die to save me just so I could wimp out now. He died so that I could save Zak and our love could grow stronger and continue to live. He gave up his life just so that I could stay happy beside the man I gave my heart to. And for that…I would not give up now.

I did my best to breathe through the thick ooze that was the darkness and drew every last tendril of it inside of me. Once I could no longer feel any more power emanating from Zak, I retracted my hands and fell onto my back. Mary removed her hand allowing me to cover my own mouth and stumble to my feet. My knees wobbled threatening to buckle, but I stood firm. The darkness crawled beneath my skin making it contort in odd ways. I started growing sick at watching my skin form waves along the length of my arm. This wasn't natural. Everywhere it touched me all I wanted to do was scratch at it. To peel back the layers of my skin and claw at it; to dig it out any way I could.

I doubled over as I felt an unexpected blow of pain in my abdomen. It was beginning to fight back. Little did it know, the only place it was going back to was Hell. My eyes stretched open wide as the darkness blacked out my eyes and continued up into my brain. I smiled beneath my hand as I realized what it was doing. It thought it could control me by taking over my brain. The thought almost made me laugh. Almost. I was too afraid to even so much as lick my lips in case a drop of it escaped.

"Focus, Aerolynn. Now is the time to expel it; to destroy it. Use the power God bestowed upon you to exterminate it!" Mary commanded.

I closed my nearly blinded eyes and pressed my lips firmly together. I stretched my arms out wide on either side of me and planted my feet firmly to the ground. It was now or never.

I enveloped myself in a bubble that now only surrounded me cutting out every noise but the beating of my own heart. As I focused on the power pulsing within me, I began to feel a different sort of warmth form inside me. This warmth wasn't painful; it wasn't threatening. This one felt soothing; calming almost. It brought me peace. I fixated harder on this warmth allowing it to grow larger inside me until I could almost see a large white ball of pure energy formed within the center of my body; my core.

A smile played at my lips as I felt the darkness receding; it was splitting off into different directions inside my body as the light grew. It knew that it's time had come. I heard the demonic scream of pain as the light seared It's dark tendrils the way it had ripped at my flesh. _Payback's a bitch_, I thought darkly.

I could feel the power building within my center until it felt ready to burst at the seams…and it did. My eyes snapped open and my head snapped back as the light exploded inside me. Dimly I felt my feet lifting off the ground as a bright, blinding white light shone from my eyes and mouth. My body shone with the intensity of the sun as I was lifted higher into the air. You might think that having your body shine with the brightness of the sun…it would hurt, but it didn't. All I felt was complete and utter peace…serenity. Like I could finally go back home and sleep without having to worry about anything else going wrong with my life.

I let the light take over, washing my being clean of the darkness I had extracted from Zak. When I felt the last bit of darkness burned away, the blazing orb slowly receded. My body felt tired all of a sudden as I descended back towards the ground. Once the light had completely faded, my body dropped from the air to be caught in a pair of strong arms.

I blinked open my eyes to see a pair of the most beautiful, sparkling blue-grey eyes staring back at me shining wet with unshed tears. I lifted a hand to his face; my fingers gently caressing his unshaven skin and trailing along his jaw. He placed a large, dirt covered hand over mine before it could fall away from his face.

A small, tired smile pulled at the corners of my mouth.

"I love you," I whispered.

Then all was black.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Is she going to be all right?" I heard a familiar male's voice ask. It almost sounded like Nick.

"Holy crap, bro, I think her finger just twitched!" Aaron informed everyone with a little too much exuberance.

"Shut up, bro! You'll scare her yelling like that!" Zak snapped. I heard the sharp sound of a smack.

"Ow, dude. Now I have a headache," Aaron grumbled probably rubbing his head from where Zak hit him.

My eyelids slowly fluttered open to gaze up at the white popcorned ceiling of my bedroom. Zak was sitting to the right of my on the side of the bed; his hand gently holding mine. Nick and Aaron stood next to him gazing down at me, a wide smile stretching across their faces.

My gaze flickered around the room in search of Mary or Luke, but neither of them were anywhere to be found. I slowly sat up in bed, but fell back against the pillows when the entire room started spinning.

"Here let me help you, babe," Zak offered scooting closer to me on the bed. He slid a large, warm hand beneath my back and assisted me in sitting up without becoming too overly dizzy.

I rewarded him with a warm smile and brushed my hair away from my face. My gaze flew up to Nick and Aaron.

"Hey guys," I chuckled. Once I had gotten situated against the wall, Nick and Aaron pushed Zak aside flinging their arms around me in a group hug.

"Hey!" Zak huffed pulling himself to his feet after being shoved onto the floor.

"We're so glad you're ok!" Aaron sobbed into my shoulder. I hesitantly pat him on the back; his dark, scraggly beard making my neck itch.

"Um, thanks you guys," I half chuckled in confusion. Why wouldn't I be ok?

"Are you feeling ok?" Nick inquired pulling back to stare directly into my eyes. I nodded.

"Now that you have confirmed she is alive and in one piece…could you guys PLEASE step away from my GIRLFRIEND?!" Zak growled as he grabbed a fistful of each of their shirts and yanked them off me. Nick and Aaron stumbled back, colliding into each other before regaining their footing. Nick brushed himself off and straightened his clothes while Aaron made a goofy face behind Zak's back.

I bit back the laughter at seeing his face. Zak took his position by my side; his hand stroked lovingly down my face before cupping my chin and gently tilting my head up to meet his gaze.

"I love you," he whispered covering my mouth with his in a soft, passionate kiss.

"I love you," I smiled. My brows scrunched together in curiosity. "But where is Mary? Luke?" I questioned.

I watched as the three men exchanged glances at my question. Zak gripped my face gingerly between his hands; his blue-grey eyes were locked on with mine.

"What all do you remember, Aerolynn?" he asked quietly, the fear clear in his voice.

"Um, well, I chased you to the cliff…then in order to bring you back to the surface of your own mind I fell backwards off the cliff…and then…" I crinkled my nose as I went deep into thought. There was a large black hole after that. "Then…I must have been saved because the next thing I remember is extracting the darkness from you and officially executing it by using the power of light I had stored inside my own body." I shook my head. "After that I got tired and everything went black. I woke up here in my bedroom to you three stooges," I joked wondering why everyone looked so frantic.

"You mean…you don't remember anything from the time you fell off the cliff up until you saved me?" Zak asked slowly.

"Zak, what's going on? Why are you three looking back and forth at each other like something's missing?" Now I was beginning to grow frantic. I didn't think it was that big of a deal that a part of what I remembered was missing. I just assumed Zak saved me after coming back into himself. Was I wrong?

"Aerolynn—"

"Allow me to explain," a soft feminine voice spoke up. Our eyes flew to the corner of the room over by the window where Mary stood. Her face was devoid of any emotion unlike it normally is; her unique hazel eyes darkened into a deep brown. They almost resembled the color of Nick's eyes.

Mary floated over to my bedside and sat down to the left of me. The bed should have shifted under her weight the way it had under Zak's, but with her being a spirit…she was weightless.

"It's not uncommon…this sort of thing," Mary said looking towards Zak.

"I just don't want her to have to relive the memory," he whispered. I glanced back and forth between them. What were they talking about? Relive WHAT?

"Unfortunately, it is necessary for her to remember. If she doesn't, then she may not function the same as the days wear on," Mary sighed.

"But—"

"Trust me, Zak, I don't want this either ok?" Mary snapped at him.

"Would somebody please explain to me what in the hell is going on?" I hissed angrily; the focus of my anger being on Mary.

"A lot of times…the light…it…well, whenever it explodes outside of the body the way it did with yours, it tends to wash away ANYTHING bad," she explained.

"Meaning?" I urged.

"Meaning that not only did it wash away the darkness you had taken inside you, but it is very likely it washed away any bad or tragic memory you recently lived."

"So you're saying my memories are gone?" I gasped, tears collecting in my eyes.

"No, the light just merely pushes your tragic memories to the back so that you are more apt to remembering the GOOD ones instead of constantly falling back on the bad ones. All of your recent tragic memories are still living inside your mind, they are just stored away until you yourself remember them or have someone help you awaken them," she clarified.

"So then how is it that she remembers you? Weren't you a tragic memory?" Aaron blurted out not really thinking about the way the sentence was worded.

"I may have been at first," Mary began taking no offense to Aaron's choice of phrasing. "But her memory of me did not end tragically. Not only that, but that memory happened over four months ago. The light does not affect memories that have already been ingrained into the mind, only the more recent ones that haven't really had the chance to take effect."

"Like—"

"Yes, Nick," Mary growled shooting him a glare. "Exactly like THAT one." Her sharp tone of voice combined with that cutting glare shut Nick up very quickly.

"What tragic memory am I missing? And where on Earth is Luke? He should be right here beside me!" I snapped feeling the hot, angry tears sting the corners of my eyes as they threatened to fall. Why were there tears collecting? I was angry not sad. So why did the mention of Luke hurt my heart so much?

"Just know that we are all very sorry, Aero," Mary quietly apologized.

"What do you—?" My question was cut short when Mary touched a single finger to my head. Inside, it felt like a river that had been blocked off for ages had finally burst open. The memory of Zak leaving again, of the conversation I had with my brother, of Zak's past and how he obtained the darkness, but that is not what made the tears flow silently down my cheeks.

The very last memory that came crashing down upon me was of Luke. It had been him that had saved me from my fall. It was him that had helped push me back onto the cliff. It had been Luke that gave his life for me so that I could save Zak. Mary pulled her hand away as Zak wrapped me in his arms and tucked my head close to his chest. The soothing pounding of his heart beneath my ear should have calmed me. It should have made me relieved that I had saved him and he was alive and well….but….it didn't. All I could think about was Luke.

No longer would I be able to call him up in the middle of the night to do random things with me. I wouldn't be able to see his charming, flirty smile anymore when I entered the pizza shop to start work. His deep, throaty laughter would no longer ring in my ears and warm my heart from the joyous sound. Those baby blue eyes would never gaze at me longingly from the corner of his eye every time he thought I wasn't looking.

He had been my protector—my shield—from the bad and the ugly. His large body had wrapped around mine in a comforting hug whenever I would feel like the world was against me. He had been there beside me when I had to send my brother off to be deployed overseas; his large, calloused hands gently gripping mine as tears had sprung from my eyes while watching my brother board the plane and wave goodbye. He had been my everything: my best friend, my boyfriend, my lover, my guide, my shield, my partner in crime…my _hero_. Now he was gone. It almost didn't seem real. How could he just decide to leave me so suddenly? I wanted to hate him for what he did; I wanted to hate him for leaving me…but I couldn't bring myself to hate even a single tiny bit of him or what he had done. He had done what he knew was right. There had been no way both of us were going to be saved and he knew that. I had even known that, but I just denied the fact. I hadn't wanted to think about him leaving me. Not yet. Not when I still needed him around. He was—IS my best friend.

_I will always love you_.

The memory of those words made the first sob surge forth from my mouth. Once that sob was released, there was no stopping the cries that came afterward. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as the tears kept pouring from my eyes. I grabbed onto Zak's arm, clenching his long sleeve tightly in my hand. I could feel my nose growing swollen and red from the endless crying; my tongue tasted salt as tears dripped into my mouth. There was no stopping this pain I felt deep inside my heart. It felt like someone had stabbed through my heart with a sword and then slashed off a huge chunk of it. I wasn't prepared for something like this in my life to happen.

Vaguely I felt another pair of arms wrap around me from behind holding me tightly. I lifted my head just enough to gaze into honey brown eyes, the same color as my own only brighter and less filled with tears.

"Mason," I mouthed not able to find my voice through the sobs. My heart tightened in my chest when a tear fell from his eye.

"I'm sorry, Aerolynn. I'm so sorry," he whispered. He buried his face into my hair and held me tighter.

I heard the soft whispers of Nick and Aaron as they left the room to give us some time alone. I should be happy that I still had the man I loved alive and holding me securely in his arms. I should be happy that it hadn't been my brother who died for me; that he was here with me safe and sound. But there was no happiness inside my heart at saving Zak, at defeating the darkness, or anything else. The only thing that seemed to fill my heart was desolation and self-loathing. I felt like it had been my fault Luke had died. Had I never fallen back off that cliff, then he would still be alive. He would be here holding me tightly in his arms right now. We'd all be crying tears of joy for saving Zak instead of tears of pain and sorrow for the loss of a great friend.

Even though I didn't see it, I knew Mary had left. Not just the room, but had gone back up to Heaven where Luke had now made a home. I turned my head to the side just a fraction of an inch; just enough to wear I could gaze out my bedroom window at the fresh morning sky. I must have been out for the night since the sun had been setting when I had blacked out.

My eyes gazed lovingly, yet disgustingly upon the bright blue sky where the sun shone so brightly…happily almost. A bird, a Blue Jay in fact, landed on the window sill and hopped close to the glass. It was rare to see a Blue Jay in these areas especially with it being Fall and close to Winter. I gently pulled myself out of the mens' embrace and glided over to the window entranced by the bird's beauty. Now I knew why Luke had found them to be his favorite bird. They had a certain air about them that demanded attention much like Luke himself. The sky blue of the bird's feathers reminded me of the blue in Luke's eyes when he would stare at me, a smile on his face all the while. He had told me once that Blue Jays could learn to mimic human speech.

Curious that it had yet to fly away, I unlatched my window and slid it open; the bird stayed firmly on the windowsill.

"Hello, beautiful," I softly cooed reaching out a finger to brush the tip along the smooth, shining feathers. I found it odd that it was being so nonchalant about being touched.

Then it opened its beak just wide enough for me to hear a sweet sound being sung. I closed my eyes and listened to the Blue Jay's heartbreaking song. I felt the slightest caress on my cheek. Thinking it was Zak, I opened my eyes with a sad smile only to have that smile fall away as I found myself staring up into a pair of translucent sky blue eyes. Luke brushed a ghostly hand down my cheek; his thumb running along my trembling bottom lip.

"Don't cry anymore, Aero. It's ok. I'm not in pain," he whispered leaning down to press his forehead against mine.

"Lu—" He pressed a finger to my lips cutting off my sob.

"I gave up my life to see you live your own happily. Not spending it crying over some lovesick fool like me," he smiled.

I glanced behind me to see if Zak and Mason were able to see him as well. They were still sitting on the bed where I had left them watching me through sad eyes.

"They can't see me. I only made myself visible to you," Luke informed me.

My eyes turned back to those familiar blue ones.

"Why, Luke?" I inquired so softly I was sure that he couldn't hear me.

"Because I love you. Words that should have been said long ago, but I was too scared to utter them."

A fresh wave of tears warmed my cheeks as they dripped off my chin to the floor below.

"Now I can always watch over you…protect you…be with you…" he whispered against my lips. A shiver went down my spine at the electricity that crackled between his spirit and my body.

He moved his lips along my jawline up to my ear. I shut my eyes as he repeated his last, dying words...only he added an extra part.

"I will always love you...now unto eternity."

When I opened my eyes again, Luke had disappeared along with the Blue Jay. A warm pair of arms wrapped around me from behind; Zak's chin rested beside my head on my shoulder.

"I love you so much," he whispered into the same ear that Luke had whispered his goodbyes in.

I leaned into him realizing how much lighter my heart felt; how much the pain had ceased. I smiled up at him placing a gentle hand against his cheek.

"Don't leave me again. Whatever it is…we can get through it together," I said to him playfully flicking his nose. He scrunched his nose at the light pain, a soft laughter bubbling out from between his lips.

"I promise."

I turned around in his embrace and snaked my arms around his neck. I brought his face close to mine, brushing my lips along his before whispering the very words that had been said to me by someone I deeply loved.

"I will always love you," I breathed against his lips deciding to leave off the last part of Luke's final goodbye. Those words…they would stay close to my heart and hold a special meaning. A meaning that couldn't be shared with anyone else…even Zak.

Our lips molded together in a kiss that was filled with passion, with joy at being alive, with relief that the nightmare was over, with sadness at our loss along the way, with longing for what we both wanted in our futures….

But over all of that, our kiss was consumed with the unconditional love that we both felt for each other and nothing, not even a demon itself, could take that away from us.

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**A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue. :( sad days i know :( BUT I have been getting a lot of comments from my readers on other websites saying I should make a third book. SO I will write a third book, but let me know if you would like for me to post it on FanFiction as well so that all of you lovely people can read it, too. If you don't want to read it, that is cool, too :) No hurt feelings :)**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy Chapter 19 and look forward to the Epilogue :) (and possibly book 3? I'll update with more info later on after I publish the epilogue)**


	21. Epilogue

**A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading this story and leaving awesome comments! I probably lost a lot of readers when this story got deleted a couple weeks back -_- but oh well because here it is back up and going strong once more!**

**I just wanted to say this chapter is ESPECIALLY long compared to all my other ones (mostly because it is the last chapter, but also because there was a lot more to put in there than I originally thought...). I hope you enjoy it all the same though!**

**Don't forget to leave a comment! 3**

* * *

Epilogue

**One week later**

"Babe, are you ready to go?" Zak called out to me from the other room. Today was the day of Luke's funeral and I wasn't even quite sure if I was ready to do something like this. They hadn't been able to recover the body. Whether he was too mangled to repair or they hadn't found it, I wasn't sure, but we were having a ceremony for an empty casket and that's all I knew.

I sat on the bed with my head down, my hair falling over my shoulders to shield my face. I'm not sure which was worse…going to a funeral with an empty casket so you were reminded of the horrible fall to his death or going to a funeral in the case they HAD found the body and you were forced to see him the way he had died. I closed my eyes tightly shut and willed the tears back. I hadn't been ready for my mother's funeral; I had been even less ready for my father's funeral shortly after. This funeral, however? I would never be ready for.

"Babe?" Zak softly called from the doorway. My eyes slowly opened and flickered up to look at the man who had stolen my heart. He was handsomely dressed in a black button down shirt, black slacks, and—

"Zak? Why are you wearing bright red tennis shoes?" I asked curiously, my lips curling up into an amused grin.

Zak shrugged those broad shoulders of his. "I like these shoes. Plus they match my watch," he answered with a smile showing me his ungodly, bright red wristwatch. I shook my head smiling.

"You're such a dork," I sighed.

"Luke wouldn't want every person to come dressed in all black," Zak quietly stated. I glanced up at him in shock. He was right. Luke, even in death, would want his funeral to be of happy memories and full of life, not be consumed with sadness and mournful tears over his death. He'd want everyone to remember him the way he had been. Not how he was now.

"You're right. He'd probably want his funeral to have strobe lights and a bar," I chuckled. His parents would never do something like that considering they had planned the funeral, but had it been up to me? I would want to carry out his funeral in a very traditional Luke way.

I stood up off the bed and glanced down at my feet. The only thing I needed to do was strap on my heels and then I would be ready to go.

"I think I am ready. I just need to put on my heels," I informed him. The funeral started in about an hour and was being held at the small funeral home near the edge of town just a bit of a drive away from the cemetery.

Zak approached me; his hands cupped my hips and gently tugged me closer to him. He rested his forehead on mine and nudged my nose with his.

"You look so beautiful," he breathed against my lips. I smiled into the kiss, my hands coming up to rest on either side of his neck. I was wearing an old dress of my mother's that Mason had found when digging through a box of their stuff we had stored away in the hallway closet. It had needed a couple of washings, but once it had dried out and smelled of lavender and chamomile instead of mothballs, I had slipped it on. It fit perfectly.

The halter top dress was knee length with an empire waist line. The bottom of the dress flowed out from the waist line to gently settle around my curves accentuating them in a graceful manner. The heels I was planning on wearing were simple black strappy heels with a large rhinestone detail on the toe strap and had a slingback heel. Nothing too flashy, but still fit in nicely with the elegance of the dress.

"Thank you," I replied rubbing my thumb along his jawline. I placed a soft kiss on his lips before stepping out of his embrace.

"I'm going to put my heels on and I'll meet you by the door, ok?"

"Ok, I'll go grab your jacket from the hook," he nodded heading for the door. Before he disappeared around the corner, he poked his head back in. "Oh, your brother said he was going to meet us there. He just needed to close the pizza shop up first," Zak informed me. I nodded at him so he knew I had heard him.

I sat back down on the bed while Zak got our coats. As I slipped on the heels, I vaguely wondered what our lives were going to be like now that Zak was no longer battling the darkness inside himself. Would our lives turn into something more normal? More mundane? And what about me? Was I still an angel of God? Did I still classify as the Savior of Souls or was that over for me now that I had completed the task God had set for me? I desperately wanted our lives to turn into something normal, but I knew that as long as I was with Zak our lives could never be completely normal. Not with the line of work he was in. I just hoped that he would stop being so adamant about having spirits hurt him in the near future. I sighed and chuckled to myself. Who was I kidding? This was Zak Bagans we were talking about. He was never going to stop pissing off spirits.

"Hey, uh, Aerolynn? Did you know you have a box in your jacket pocket?" Zak asked me as he returned to the room. N his hand he held a velvet square box. It almost looked like the kind of box that held a ring.

My eyes shot up to his. My heart stopped beating. Was he…was he going to propose? On the day of Luke's funeral? His brows were bunched together in confusion as he gazed down at the box. When those stormy blue orbs met mine, they rounded in realization at the situation.

"No! It's not like that! I'm not—this isn't—I swear I'm not proposing! This isn't even mine!" he sputtered unsure of how to say what he wanted to say.

I cocked a brow. "So are you saying you don't want to marry me?" Although I was only teasing him, I couldn't help but feel a little offended at his words.

"No! I'm not saying that at all. I just…this seriously isn't mine. I would never propose to you on the day of your best friend's funeral. That would just be….wrong," he answered more clearly, but with an underlying tone of fear in his voice. He was afraid he might still offend me with his words.

"Calm down, Zak, I'm only teasing," I softly laughed giving him a reassuring smile.

His entire body relaxed as the tension left his body at my words. He strode over to the bed and held out the box to me. I slipped my fingers around the box and held it gently. If the box wasn't from him, then who could it be from? I popped open the lid to stare down upon a beautiful, round, ruby ring that had silver flowers intertwining themselves along the ring. I tugged it out of the satin padding and gazed closer at it. Along the inside of it was an inscription. I squinted my eyes and held the ring up to the light. Along the inner silver lining of the ring, the words read:

**_ad aeternitas_**

My brows scrunched together in confusion. What sort of language was this? I almost threw the ring to the ground in frustration because I didn't understand the language. Seriously, how had this ring ended up in my jacket pocket? Who had given it to me?

"Ugh!" I growled slamming a fist down onto the bed beside me. The velvet box jumped off the bed to land on the floor. Chuckling, Zak picked it up only to see a small SD card lying underneath it. The velvet bedding had popped out making the small card fall out. He picked it up along with the box and handed them both to me. This entire thing was becoming more confusing by the minute.

"Hey, Zak, do you know French?" I asked glancing up at him. He plucked the ring from my fingers and held the ring up to the light the way I had. A handsome, crooked smile graced his lips.

"This isn't French, dear, it's Latin," he corrected me.

"The language itself is irrelevant if I can't understand any of it," I huffed.

He smiled and handed me the ring back. "I don't know a whole lot of Latin, but Nick might. We could always ask him. Did you want to check out what was on the SD card?"

I nodded my head as I turned it around in my fingers. What treasure could this small card be containing? Would it answer my question as to who had given me this ring or would it leave room for only more questions? Zak left the room and came back a few minutes later with his laptop. He opened the lid and typed in his password before laying the computer in my lap. He gently took the card from my fingers and inserted it into the laptop's SD slot.

Almost immediately a box popped up asking if we wanted to view the files inside. I double clicked the option and a larger menu opened up. On it was only one file labeled 'happy_birthday_ '. Zak's gaze shot up to meet mine. This had clearly been meant for me to see last week on my birthday when so many tragic things had happened. That's when it hit me. My eyes widened in shock as I remembered the moment I had been clutching Luke while he slowly lost his grip on the root. During the time I had been looking up at the root he was clasping onto for dear life, I had felt him rummage in my pocket. I hadn't really thought about it at the time, but looking back on it THIS must have been what he slipped inside my pocket. It had been the ring along with this video. It had been my birthday gift from him. So did that mean the inscription said 'happy birthday'? My eyes dropped to my jacket that Zak still held in his hands. It was the same one from that day…so it HAD to be form Luke.

I quickly maneuvered the mouse over to the video and double clicked on it. Immediately, a windows media player box popped up with a loading bar at the bottom. I clicked play and watched in silence as the video began playing.

Luke's room suddenly came into view. His guitar was lying on the bed and all of his posters were plastered across the back wall of his bedroom. Suddenly his face popped into view of the camera. Tears instantly sprang to my eyes. _Luke…_

"I really hope this thing is recording," he mumbled softly to himself. He glided over to the bed and sat upon the edge making sure he was facing the camera. He wore his usual faded, ripped jeans and a white tank top. His blonde hair was disheveled like he had been raking his hands through it all day in frustration. Those baby blues stared intensely into the camera as he took a deep breath and spoke.

"Hey, Aerolynn," he nervously greeted with a small wave. I picked up my hand and gave a small wave back. A sad smile curled the corners of my mouth.

"Even though your birthday is a month from now…I decided to go ahead and make this video. I know you are feeling really down because Zak's gone and he hasn't contacted once throughout these past few months. What an ass, huh?" he chuckled rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. My eyes darted over to Zak who smiled sheepishly.

"Uh….ah geez, I was never good at these sorts of things. I always hated being on camera. Unless I was with you," he quickly tacked on with a bright smile. "Whenever I was with you…man, Aerolynn, you made me feel like I could fly. Like I could just reach out and touch the stars. I always got this…girly feeling in my stomach when you were around," he chuckled.

"You know that feeling you get when you see someone and you just…you just KNOW? You just know that there is NO ONE else that can make your breath catch in your throat; there is NO ONE who can make your heart race faster, yet stop at the same time? And whenever they look at you…you feel like your drowning in the endless depths of their eyes, but you find that you never want to swim back to the top?" Luke's gaze was now drifting away from the camera as a tender smile stretched across his handsome, unshaven face.

"And when they laugh…your stomach does these little flip-flopping feelings. The kind you get when you go upside down on a rollercoaster or when you go over that first drop on a rollercoaster. All you think about is that person. And even when you tell yourself not to…you still are because all you want to do is be beside them for the rest of your life…" His gaze flickered over to stare back into the camera lens. "That person for me…was you, Aerolynn. Ever since that moment I think I saw you when we were kids…I just…I just KNEW. Then that first time you smiled at me…whoa," he chuckled holding a hand to his head. "You blew me away with the radiance of that one smile and I just continued falling deeper and deeper in love with you as time wore on. I fell hard and fast, it damn near made me dizzy. And then we started dating. I don't care what you say, Aerolynn, we HAD something. That went beyond our friendship. It was there and you know it. We've always had that connection hiding just beneath the surface. It was just…it just kind of…became suppressed because neither one of us wanted to take that step out of the comfortable friendship we had established. We were both too afraid to take that leap. I think at the time, both of us were even afraid of finding that sort of love you always hear about in fairy tales and romance novels.

"Even when I was dating my ex and later when you were so set on Zak…I never once stopped loving you. Not once. Not a single day goes by, Aerolynn, that I DON'T think about you," he chuckled. Zak intertwined our fingers together and kissed the back of my hand. It was then that I realized how hard I was crying. No sobs were escaping my mouth, but there was an endless flow of tears streaming down my face to land on the black fabric of my dress. Some tears even flowed down my neck reaching my collarbone.

"Ah, geez, you're probably bawling your eyes out right now, aren't you?" Luke sighed raking a hand down his face. A strangled laugh burst forth through all the tears. He knew me too well.

"I always hated seeing you cry. Every time I saw a tear of sadness drip forth from your beautiful brown eyes, I wanted to punch the guy or rip apart the thing that made you tear up. I plan on telling you in person that I love you…I'm not sure when I will dredge up the courage for that though. Maybe I'll do it during a romantic event. Hey! The Frost Festival is coming up soon! Maybe I'll woo you there, huh?" he winked at the camera with a cheesy smile before slapping a hand to his forehead and groaning. "That was so lame…" he mumbled.

I smiled remembering how he had kissed me that night when we had come back from the festival. My smile died when I remembered the way I had reacted. If I could turn back time knowing what I knew now…I would change my reaction completely. My eyes started to burn with the steady amount of hot tears that kept falling. Zak gripped my hand tighter in his as the video continued playing.

"Anyways, I don't want to sound like a selfish ass or anything, but…I hope Zak rots in Hell and a demon or something eats his face off so that he never returns to you so I can have you all to myself," Luke bluntly said. Zak and I burst out into laughter. Luke had been almost right, but the demon hadn't exactly fed off of Zak's face.

"In all seriousness though…I see how happy Zak makes you and, even though it hurts me to see another guy making you happy…I'm just glad you found a person that makes you feel the way I feel about you," he softly told the camera. "And I hope he does return for you because if he doesn't? He is obviously the dumbass I always kind of thought him to be for letting a woman like you slip from his fingers."

My eyes met Zak's. "He's not afraid to let you know how he feels about me, huh?" Zak smiled.

I shook my head, my eyes returning to the screen.

"Well, on THAT note, like I said I have never been good with expressing my exact feelings through words, so…" He paused as he grabbed up his guitar from beside him and positioned it in his lap. "I'll sing my feelings. Well…I'll TRY and sing about my feelings. We both know I suck balls at singing, but you know I play a mean guitar," he winked. I smiled knowing he did play guitar rather well, but his singing was never as awful as he always made it seem.

His fingers began strumming across the guitar strings as he began singing the familiar lyrics of a favorite song of mine. His deep, husky voice formed words that wrapped around my like a sweet, sad lullaby.

_Time, is going by, so much faster than I,_

_And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you._

_Now I'm wondering why I've kept this bottled inside,_

_So I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you._

_So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know..._

Those baby blue eyes met mine through the camera as his soft words grew louder on the chorus.

_You're never gonna be alone_

_From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,_

_I won't let you fall..._

_You're never gonna be alone_

_I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone._

I clasped a hand over my mouth as the sobs finally began to take voice. The soft strumming of his guitar rang throughout my ears as Luke continued singing:

_And now, as long as I can, I'm holding on with both hands,_

_'Cause forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you,_

_So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know..._

_You're never gonna be alone_

_From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,_

_I won't let you fall._

_When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on._

_We're gonna see the world out,_

_I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone._

The soft melody of the guitar shifted as he entered into the bridge of the song.

_Oh!_

_You've gotta live every single day,_

_Like it's the only one, what if tomorrow never comes?_

_Don't let it slip away,_

_Could be our only one, you know it's only just begun._

_Every single day,_

_Maybe our only one, what if tomorrow never comes?_

_Tomorrow never comes..._

The more times I wiped away my tears, double the amount kept falling. I released my grip on Zak's hand and held both of my hands over my mouth so that my loud sobs wouldn't interrupt Luke's beautiful singing.

Suddenly, Luke's fingers came to a stop as he bowed his head. His hand came up to cover his face. Even though I couldn't see him I knew he was crying. He was doing everything he could to hold back the tears for just a while longer so he could finish the song. His fingers once more began caressing the strings of the guitar as he slowly lifted his head. His voice, once strong and full of confidence, now came out barely above a whisper as he continued on.

_Time, is going by, so much faster than I,_

_And I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you…_

His blue eyes, shining with tears, lifted to meet the camera lens.

_You're never gonna be alone_

_From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,_

_I won't let you fall._

_When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on._

_We're gonna see the world out,_

_I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone._

_I'm gonna be there always,_

_I won't be missing one more day,_

_I'm gonna be there always,_

_I won't be missing one more day._

By this time, tears were streaming down his handsome face. Both of us were crying only for different reasons. In my heart, I knew he was crying because he knew that there was no hope for a relationship to happen between us. Not when I had already found Zak. And I was crying because these lyrics hit me even more now knowing he was gone and it was like he was telling me that even in death…I was never going to be stranded. That somewhere, somehow, Luke was going to come to me and comfort me no matter what it took. This song made me miss him all the more.

Luke laid the guitar beside him on the bed and wiped away the tears with the back of his hand. He chuckled through his tears as he looked into the camera.

"Look at that. You made me cry," he teased. "I guess it's payback for making you cry earlier, huh? Anyways, hopefully you find the ring before you find this. Knowing you, you're probably wondering what in the fuck kind of language is inscribed on the inside of your ring. Well, that would be Latin, my dear. You thought it was French didn't you?" He chuckled as a gleam shined in his eye.

"Shut up," I mumbled with a sad smile. I could taste a mixture of snot and tears on my lips. I could only imagine how I looked now with mascara and eyeliner running down my face with my eyes and nose being puffy and red.

"You are probably thinking 'stupid, Luke! Why couldn't he just make things simple and use English! He is always making things so damn complicated'," he mocked in an overly high pitched voice that sounded nothing like me. My fingers itched to reach out and slap him, but I knew I never would be able to do that again.

"Well, the inscription, in English, reads 'unto Eternity'," he answered. My eyes dropped to the ruby band clasped tightly in the palm of my hand. "You're probably wondering why I chose such a phrase, huh? Well, it's because—"

"Luke!" An all too familiar female voice called out. I entered into the camera shot and plopped down onto Luke's lap with a giggle. "What are you doing you weirdo? Are you talking to yourself again?" I asked him.

I could vaguely even recall this day considering so much had happened in between then and now.

Luke laughed. "Just brushing up on my guitar skills," he answered with a charming smile. I watched in a weird sense of déjà vu as I rolled my eyes.

"Well, come on! That new movie I want to see just came out in theaters in the next town over. I promise to pay for the tickets if you buy the _pop~corn_," I sang. He chuckled and set me down off his lap.

"Ok, ok, just let me get more appropriately dressed will ya? I mean, geez, woman, I could have been naked and masturbating to a Playboy magazine for all you knew," he huffed angrily, but there was no mistaking that playful gleam in his eye.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh whatever. You know you would totally be jacking off to Ryan Reynold's face," I joked.

"Hey, now! That man has a fantastic body that I can only DREAM of having. I would definitely go gay for that man," he said pointing a stern finger at me.

The me now and the me in the video both laughed. Only her laugh was more carefree and full of joy while mine was full of sorrow and painful memories.

"Just get dressed," I sighed at him before leaving the room. Luke's eyes met the camera and he smiled.

"We'll be laughing about this later," he foretold. "Anyways…" he approached the camera and crouched down onto his haunches in front of the recording lens. "That phrase?" he whispered.

"It means…" he paused and took a deep breath. At the same time, both him and I repeated the last words he had said to me:

"I will always love you…now unto eternity."

The camera went black as the video cut off. It was so hard to look away from the screen. I wanted Luke to be standing there before me so badly that when I looked up and didn't see him there…I erupted into a fit of sobs.

Zak pulled me tightly into his arms and cradled my head against his shoulder. The ring bit into the palm of my hand as I grasped my fingers even tighter around it. How was I supposed to go to the funeral now when I felt and looked like THIS?

"Zak, I-I c-c-can't go t-to—"

"Ssshhh," he soothed. "I know. I understand. I'll call Mason and the guys to let them know. It's ok, Aerolynn. I promise…they'll understand."

He gently gripped my face between his hands and tilted my head back to look up at him. My eyes quickly darted away knowing I must look ugly having my eye make-up running down my cheeks along with my nose being all puffy from the tears.

He grabbed my hand and tenderly uncurled my fingers from around the ring. He took it from my palm and slid the band around the middle finger of my right hand. It formed to my finger perfectly. Tears laced with black from my mascara dropped onto the back of my hand as I gazed in awe at the ring.

"Luke…he loved you…probably more than any guy ever can," Zak said softly playing with my fingers. "He makes my love for you feel kinda…inferior," he chuckled.

My eyes rose up to clash with a pair of stormy blue eyes.

"I promise you though that for as long as I live…I will strive to love you as much as he did if not even more than that. Luke…he has become my role model in the ways of knowing how to love someone with a feeling so intense…you would give your very life to protect them and their loved one."

"Zak, you're not helping with the tears," I joked.

A sad smile graced those lips. He took his thumbs and did his best to wipe away the make-up and the tears.

"I know," he replied.

My eyes fell back to the ring that glinted in the afternoon sun. The ring itself was stunning, but the meaning behind it was even more breathtaking. And the video he had made? No words could describe the overwhelming joy and sadness that pulled at my heart. And even though I didn't want to…I knew I had to go to that funeral. I needed to say the goodbye I never was able to say to him when I had the chance.

"Let's go to the funeral," I decided. Zak watched me through wary eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"No…but…I think I need to go because if I don't? It'll just be one more thing I regret not doing when I had the chance," I answered.

Zak nodded. He stood up and pulled me with him. He rested his jacket around my shoulders before pulling me close to him in a tight embrace.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered against the top of my head.

He grabbed my hand and walked us out of the apartment building. The moment we stepped out into the sunlight and the warmth of the rays washed over my skin, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace inside my heart. I looked up at the bright blue sky and saw a Blue Jay fly across the clouds before disappearing into the sun. I smiled, touching my lips to my new ring.

_Unto eternity…_

* * *

**A/N: Another note! Ok, so I told you I would update you with more info on this whole "third book" thing. Here is the deal...the third book will be titled (can you guess?) "_Unto Eternity_" (I know, real original right? Way to steal Luke's words _ ) hahaha but anyways, that is the title._  
_**

**Here's the catch, I probably won't actually start writing on it for a while because I am going to go back and write on some of the other stories that I KINDA may have ignored while writing this one _ (shame on me!)**

**Anywho, I will update The Freeing Blood with an excerpt of Unto Eternity once I get around to it (you know how it is with school, homework, multiple stories, and such...BUSY BEE!)... **

**I do hope you enjoyed the last (super long) chapter and will be with me once I publish Unto Eternity! Remember to LEAVE A COMMENT 3 Thank every single one of you so much! :)**


	22. Excerpt Chapter of Book 3: Unto Eternity

**A/N: Hello all my faithful readers! :) Remember how I promised there would be an excerpt of the next book in the series (Unto Eternity)? WELL HERE IT IS! I have provided you with an excerpt of the prologue :) It's not much (just a teaser ;) since it's an excerpt), but I hope it sparks your interest just enough to want to read the third book when I officially begin posting it.**

**As of now I am still working on some of my other stories so I haven't OFFICIALLY began writing on Unto Eternity. I will try to do so as soon as possible though. I hope you can all wait for it! I promise the end results will be worth the wait :)**

**Well, at least I hope so anyways xD**

**Anyways thank you to EVERYONE who has supported me and has continued to support this series even after it got cut xP**

** It's those passionate readers of mine that keep me doing what I do best...WRITING! :D I love each and every one of you (platonically of course)**

**REMEMBER TO READ AND REVIEW! Ciao lovelies! **

* * *

Excerpt:

Prologue

The man sneered as he watched Zak and Aerolynn laugh at something Aaron had said. The Ghost Adventures gang and Zak's newest slut were all gathered around Aerolynn's dining room table playing a round of cards. It had been two years since she had completely obliterated the darkness inside Zak.

_Her power is stronger than I thought. I must find a way to extract that power and use it to wage war on all mankind. But how?_

"Are you still brooding over that female?" a familiar soprano voice teased. The angel turned around to lock eyes with his partner in crime. She was wearing a white lace tube top with a matching short, white lace skirt. Attached to the front of the skirt was a silky fabric that stretched up along her abdomen and hooked around her neck giving the outfit the appearance of a halter dress from the front. Yet from the back it made her look as if she was wearing nothing but lingerie. The white contrasted beautifully against her tan skin and complimented her golden waves. When she wore things such as that it was no wonder why all the male angels fought over her.

"I'm not brooding," he snapped turning back to the glass pedestal that was filled to the brim with crystalline waters. "I'm planning."

"Oh?" she inquired curiously moving up beside him. Her light blue eyes gazed upon the scene being shown to her in the water. "And what might you be planning, brother?"

The man cringed at the sound of that word. Every day he had to hear that word from fellow angels and it sickened him to his core. These people were not his siblings. How could they be when they had all been created this way? They had not been born from the same womb. They hadn't grown up together. They were made as adults and would forever be adults. Why they all insisted on calling each other brother and sister was forever beyond his grasp considering they all fucked each other. Something that he was sure normal siblings did not do with one another.

"Do not call me that," he growled. She waved away his irate attitude, her gaze never leaving the water.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I was merely kidding," she sighed. Her light blue eyes turned back to him. "So, what are you planning? Or are you going to sit pouting a while longer before telling me?"

He merely stared down at the beautiful angel that watched him through large, pleading eyes. She batted her eyelashes pressing her body close to his. He could feel every curve of her warm, voluptuous body against his hard, muscled body. She traced a finger across his jawline and over his bottom lip all the while gazing into his own pair of light blue eyes.

She stretched up onto the tips of her toes and brushed her lips over his jawline as she made her way to his ear.

"You know I hate it when you make me wait for things," she playfully groaned in his ear; her hot breath washed over the side of his face as she slowly moved her lips back along his jaw.

"Tell me your plans," she softly whined. Her teeth gently bit down on his bottom lip and tugged it away from his teeth before releasing it. She deliberately began grinding her pelvis in circles against his while she made a hot trail of kisses down his neck.

He grasped her face firmly under the jaw and pulled her lips away from his neck. Her hips stopped moving against his as she smiled up at him under her thick, black lashes.

"How do you expect me to tell you my plans while you are dry humping me?" he inquired in an annoyed voice that was laced with amusement.

He gently pushed her away from him as his eyes fell back to the Eye of the Earth.

"Her power is stronger than any of us first assumed," he informed the female angel.

"Obviously if she was able to defeat one of Lucifer's finest demons on her own," she snorted folding her arms across her chest. A small grin lifted a corner of his mouth. She would always pout after getting rejected by him. It was mostly because no one except him ever turned her down when she put on her sex kitten face.

"If we were able to extract that power and harness it for ourselves…" his gaze slid up to meet hers. "We'd be unstoppable."

Her light blue eyes lit up with excitement. "We'd be all powerful."

"We could wipe out all of humanity."

"We could recreate the world in OUR image," she pressed on eagerly.

A large smile split his face as a final thought came to his dark, demented mind.

"We could be the new God."


End file.
